The Ripple Effect Book 1: Small Ripples
by Commander Kitsune
Summary: When my best friend and I are transferred to our Mass Effect alternate reality versions of ourselves, we try to fill their shoes as we embark on the Normandy SSR to save the galaxy. Extra genres: Humor and Romance. SI. A lighter version of the story. Warning: No Shepard in this story.
1. Chapter 1: The Pebble Drops

**UPDATE 10****th****, March, 2012:** _Thanks to the stupid endings to a great game, this chapter has been updated with accurate reactions._

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><p>In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the <em>sensitive dependence on initial conditions<em>; where a small change at one place in a nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state. For example, the presence or absence of a butterfly flapping its wings could lead to creation or absence of a hurricane.

You see examples of the butterfly effect all around you. In the _Back to the Future_ trilogy, the second film vividly illustrates the cascading and broad effects of what seemed a minor change in the course of events: because the loathsome Biff Tannen accidentally gets his hands on a sports almanac from 2015, he is able to grow rich and corrupt Marty McFly's home town.

It's a nice thing to think of. To know that, no matter how small of a contribution you make to the universe, it will always make an impact. But then there's the other side of the spectrum. Even if you try to make things better, there will always be unforseen effects. And some of them will be worse than what you just stopped.

There's a similar theory known as Causality. Causality is the relationship between an event (the _cause_) and a second event (the _effect_), where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first. If one can create a cause and predict the effect at the same time, then they would get the illusion that they could see into the future.

An excellent example is when Neo, Morpheus and Trinity visit the Merovingian in the movie, Matrix Reloaded. As the Merovingian explains what Causality is, he sends a special slice of dessert written in a special code to a beautiful blonde woman. As she takes her first bite, the code gets to work in creating a cause, to which the effect is an explosive orgasm in her vagina. This causes the woman to go to the bathroom, to which the Merovingian excuses himself from Neo and the others to take full advantage of what he did to the woman, which became yet another cause. The effect was the Frenchman getting a very nice blowjob from the very hot and very high class blonde.

Then there's the Ripple Effect. The ripple effect is a term used to describe a situation where, like the ever expanding ripples across water when an object is dropped into it, an effect from an initial state can be followed outwards incrementally.

For example you drop a small pebble into a pond of still water, and watch as the ripples spread out from the impact point. And the ripple effects everything. Then there are other ripples, clashing with your own, or melding to create a larger ripple. The larger the ripple, the larger the effects. This is closely tied to the Butterfly Effect theory.

I realise this sets the stage of a much darker story than what you think you are going to read. If this is what you're thinking...

...then April Fool dumbass! I'm too upbeat to write a story like that. I prefer happy fiction over realistic dark stories. It's just me.

If you are disappointed, then turn away, leave and don't look back. But for those who want to know how much two extra people armed with knowledge of the future can make a difference, while having as much fun as possible, then continue.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: The Pebble Drops<strong>

I stared in shock at the large LCD screen in front of me, watching the credits float up the screen. I was speechless.

Next to me sat a very attractive red head. She wore baggy pale blue pj pants and a loose light green t-shirt. She too, was wide eyed, watching the white words roll up with the dramatic and inspiring music in the background. Her eyes were coloured just as crimson red as her hair.

"...wow," I murmured.

"Yeah... wow," agreed the woman beside me.

I was silent for a few moments before the dam broke.

"That... was... the WORST ENDING POSSIBLE for Mass Effect 3!" I roared in anger.

"Damn straight!" she agreed, now glaring hard at the TV. If it was self aware, it would probably start pissing itself in fear.

"What a shitty ending to close the Mass Effect Trilogy!" I growled.

"I'll say," the red head agreed, not glaring anymore, but now looking quite dissatisfied.

There was a loud noise that suddenly shattered the mood. I grinned sheepishly. "We were too eager to start off from where I saved the game last night, we skipped breakfast. What's the time now Dawn?" I asked the woman.

She dug out her iPhone 4 and checked the time. "It's lunch time-," she began, only for a second, equally loud noise, interrupted her.

I grinned. "That one wasn't me."

"Oh shut up Josh," Dawn glared at me, but without any feeling in the glare. To which I was thankful. Her glares could get downright scary sometimes.

"Well, I'll see if I can find us some breakfast," I suggested as I got up and walked toward the kitchen. But I paused for a moment before turning around and made my way to the bathroom. "But first, gotta drain the main vein."

"Excuse me! There's a lady present!" replied a shocked sounding voice from Dawn. I turned around and grinned. "Where? I don't see one." I laughed as I narrowly dodged a deadly cushion before resuming my very short journey to the toilet.

I quickly did my business before flushing and stepping over to the basin to wash my hands. While I did so I looked at myself in the basin mirror.

I was tall and lanky, with a bit of muscle under my light tanned skin. Black spiky hair that was pulled into a long ponytail that reached my lower back, while the top was short. Purple eyes stared back at me.

The reason Dawn's eyes were crimson red and mine were amethyst purple was that both of us had poor eyesight. So we wore contacts. It was as simple as that.

Dawn and I had been friends for a very long time. We met in collage, 8 years ago. We were both 17 years old and looking for some friends. We just clicked. We had the same interests as each other; we loved to watch anime and play video games. For playing games, we only had one rule. 'If it had a decent story, we play it.' We were first hooked on Final Fantasy titles, but then a company that simply oozed awesomeness, BioWare, created Mass Effect, then Dragon Age and their sequels. And we were blown away at how good they were.

I finished up and walked back out, past a texting Dawn, probably twittering her recent disappointing experience of Mass Effect 3 to her friends and mine. She was very popular and had heaps of friends. And I was lucky to be her best and closest friend. I looked in the fridge and smiled. "There's enough of last night's birthday pizza in the fridge. I'll warm it up in the microwave," I called to Dawn.

"Don't do that! Did you know that if you warm up something in the microwave, it destroys all the nutrients in the food?" she called back.

"Really? I never would of thought," I replied sarcastically. "Well then, in the oven?"

"Yep!"

"Right..." I mumbled as I set the oven to the correct temperature, pulled out the pizza, placed it on a tray and shoved it into the oven. I set the timer, took out a chilled bottle of water from the fridge and walked back into the lounge room.

"It'll be another half an hour till the food is done. After lunch we can go over to EB Games so we can sell our old PSPs. You have yours?" I asked.

She smiled and pulled hers out of her pocket. "Right here. I also got my new PlayStation Vita as well in a different pocket. You?"

I patted two pockets that held my old PSP and my new Vita. "Yep. Wonder how much game credit we'll get for them?" I sighed. "I can't believe BioWare actually thought that ending would be a good way to end the series. I seriously hope they don't pull that move for Dragon Age 3."

"I know. You wanna trade it in?" Dawn asked.

"I dunno. The game itself was awesome. It was a blast from start to just before the 'big' choice. And I'm sure we're not the only ones feeling ripped off by this development. Maybe BioWare will decide to release some alternate ending DLCs in the future. And you bought me the Collector's Edition. I don't want to just throw all that away. So… I think I'll just hang onto the game. For now. Some sort of response will happen in the next few months. If not, then I'll trade it in," I said.

"Sounds like a plan," she smiled. I was never one to be down in the dumps about something for too long. Usually I recovered within a few hours of the event, depending on how big the even was.

"But what do we do now?" I asked.

Dawn pouted slightly as she began to think. An action I always thought was cute. "We could always play Mass Effect One?"

"Go through the entire story from start to finish, huh? If we ignore the fatalistic ending then it sounds like a good idea," I agreed. I pressed the Xbox button on the wireless controller, exited the game and ejected it. I clambered over to the 360, almost stepping on my laptop in the process, and cursing silently, I manoeuvred myself to the TV and console. I took out the disk, placed it in the shiny new case, took out a battered case housing the original Mass Effect and opened the case. The disk was still in almost perfect working order, having been taken good care of. I placed it on the tray and pushed it in. I jumped back onto the couch next to Dawn and waited.

Nothing happened. Just a black screen.

"What!" I exclaimed. "What's going on with the disk?" I asked to no-one in particular. I continued waiting but... nothing.

"Man!" I cried out in despair. "Now I'll need to get a replacement! And who knows if there'll be a copy at the game store!"

"Wait! Something's happening!" Dawn said, pointing to the screen. I sat up and looked too. Sure enough there was a small spark in the middle of the screen. We both leaned forward, trying to see what it was, when the weirdest thing happened. The spark jumped _out_ of the screen, zipped over to stop in front of us, and then _expanded_! A bright white light enveloped myself, Dawn, the whole room!

"AhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHH!" I yelled out from the pain in my eyes as I clenched them shut before I felt myself shift, as if I was propelled forward at high speeds. Then I slammed into what felt like water, but there was no feeling of cool liquid on my face. I felt myself turning round and round before I felt myself slowing down, as if I was sitting in a rollercoaster and after done with all the loop-the-loops and whatnot, the brakes were put on. I then felt something hard slam into my whole body and it took several moments of being still to realize that I was laying on a floor of some kind.

A feminine groan to my left announced that Dawn was still with me.

"uuuuuuuhhhhhhhh... what the hell... just happened?" I moaned as I opened my eyes. They were still unfocused from the light before so my vision was a little fuzzy. I struggled to get my bearings and sit up, only to bang my wrist against something hard.

"Ow!" I yelped and the sudden pain brought everything into sharp focus. One quick glance told me I was no longer in my house.

The room we were in looked quite rich and expensive in all aspects. The walls; smooth and white, the furniture; comfortable and expensive looking. In fact, the only things that were out of place in this room was us and my laptop.

"Dawn... you ok?" I asked as I looked over at her. She was on the ground next to me, her eyes also surveying her surroundings.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"No idea," I replied. I then spotted a window. Gingerly I stood up, walked over to it, and gasped at what I saw.

I saw a sprawling futuristic city that stretched out in front of me for miles. Looking slightly to the side I saw an arm of sorts stretch out just as far as what we were on. There were five in total. I instantly recognised where we were.

"Impossible! It just can't be!" I whispered.

"What was that?" asked Dawn as she walked to stand next to me. "Oh my... Is that...?"

"I think so...," I replied, my eyes wide in shock. "It's... the Citadel."

"_The_ Citadel? From Mass Effect?" asked Dawn.

"What other Citadel do we know of that looks like this?" I replied.

"But that's-"

"Impossible. I know."

We stared at the view for a few minutes longer before I tore my eyes away from the outside and looked around the room. I didn't realise how big it was. The floor was covered in cream coloured carpet. Several black couches and recliners were placed around a large marble top table, the object I whacked my wrist against from before. The kitchen was part of the room we were in. In fact, as I walked away from the window, there were almost no walls to speak of. One thick black wall housed a burning fire that stretched along the entire length, both sides. Past the fireplace wall, there were two large beds, identical, with white sheets and a black doona on top.

I walked into the kitchen and made my way over to what looked like a fridge. I opened it and saw it almost jam packed with food.

"So, who do you think owns this place?" asked Dawn as she walked away from the window, which I just noticed was unbroken and seemed to stretch all around the area. It also stretched from floor to roof, giving a 360 degree panoramic view of the whole Citadel.

"Hell if I know. Maybe we should look around," I suggested.

The next few minutes we walked around the place. Apart from the occasional trinket, the place was quite Spartan. Just the essentials. There was a small spherical object that looked like the music player inside Commander Shepard's quarters on the Normandy SR-2.

"Josh! Josh!" Dawn called franticly. I was off in an instant, tearing around the corner to see her staring at something on the wall in horror, but it looked more like a confused horror look.

"What!" I called as I skidded to a halt.

"Look!" she whispered as she pointed a trembling finger at what she was staring at. I looked, and my heart stopped for a second.

There on the wall, in a beautiful ornate frame, was a very realistic portrait.

Of us.

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><p>AN: Review me to tell me what you think so far, and if you have any questions, then let me know through PMing me.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2: Alternate Realities

**UPDATE 10****th****, March, 2012:** _As stated in the past chapter, conversations in this chapter will be edited for the knowledge of the fatalistic ending of Mass Effect 3._

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: Alternate Realities?<strong>

"What does this mean?" I asked.

"I dunno. Alternate reality maybe?" Dawn answered.

"I guess so. Can't think of any other explanation. Other than we're dreaming," I replied. I then yelped as Dawn pinched me. "You're supposed to pinch yourself, dumbass!" I growled at her as she did that anime girl thing where you wink and poke your tongue out at the same time.

The picture showed us, but we looked slightly different. I couldn't tell exactly what. I then looked at Dawn and saw that she looked exactly like she did in the picture.

"Hang on a sec. You look older. And your hair's longer," I pointed at her. She looked at me and her eyes widened as well. "So do you! And you have a beard! I didn't notice before as I was distracted."

"Really?" I ran my hand over my chin and, sure enough, there was a stubble. In Dawn's case, her hair used to reach down to her waist. Now it reached to her thighs. She also had eye shadow make up on and her lips had glossy transparent lipstick on.

I also noticed something else; something that should of registered as soon as we appeared in this world. We were wearing different clothes. I wore white cargo pants, a black muscle shirt that showed muscles that I certainly didn't have before and a white unbuttoned shirt over the top. Dawn wore a pair of black leather pants and a black leather zip-up long sleeved jacket with the zip pulled down to show a generous amount of cleavage. I blushed and looked away, not wanting to be caught staring at her well-endowed D-cup rack.

I was in love with Dawn. Had been for a while. Her S-class looks didn't help. However I was afraid of moving forward as I didn't want to lose the friendship I had with her if things got awkward between us. That and I was afraid of rejection as I was only an ordinary guy who wasn't really handsome or talented like some guys that Dawn was friends with. And I valued my friendship with Dawn more than anything else in the world. Her being older did nothing to soften my love for her. If anything she looked even more beautiful than before, if that was even possible.

"So the 'us' we're in are older? Wonder by how much. We're 24," I wondered as I looked back at the painting. Surprisingly I was wearing Medium Onyx armor while Dawn wore the Light Onyx armor. And both had the N7 logo emblazoned on the right chest area.

"Hey Dawn. You think that the 'us' of this reality are Alliance Special Forces?" I asked.

"How the hell would I know?" Dawn answered back. "They could have stolen someone's N7 Onyx Armor and worn it themselves."

"I dunno. They don't look like those sort of people. I know we're in an alternate reality, or at least we think we are, but I don't think they're much different from us. You know, personality wise. I would never steal someone's N7 armor. Would you?"

"Of course not."

There was silence. I then spoke up again. "So, if we're in them, then that means, for the moment, that this place is ours." As I said this, a weight lifted off me. Throughout this whole experience I was worried that the owners would walk in and think we were robbers. Now that I knew the truth, I felt more relaxed. "Well then, I guess we should look around a little more personally, try to find out as much as we can about... well... us."

"Sounds like a good idea," agreed Dawn.

For the next hour, we searched the apartment from top to bottom. We found the armor from the portrait in a shared wardrobe. We also saw that there was a large elevator in the middle of the apartment that was part of the kitchen and wardrobe. It seemed this was the only entrance and exit to this floor.

In a drawer under the armor, there were several weapons embedded into foam indents. There was a Harpoon Sniper Rifle, an Armageddon Shotgun, a Breaker Assault Rifle and four handguns. These were interesting. The handguns all looked the same in shape; the handle, hammer and trigger was styled after a Desert Eagle Mark XIX with the barrels designed after Dante's Ebony and Ivory from the Devil May Cry series. There were also detached blue laser sights next to the guns.

Also like Ebony and Ivory, two were black with the grip a dark grey and two were white with the grip a light grey. They also had names that looked to be laser engraved on the side. One set was named Ebony and Ivory, while the second set had Oblivion (black) and Oathkeeper (white).

"Sweet guns!" I grinned as I picked up Oblivion and Oathkeeper. Curiously I felt the knowledge to use these guns at a master level. I twirled them both in my hand like a veteran cowboy.

"Wow!" Dawn smiled. "When did you learn how to do that?"

"Apparently, my MEU version knew how to use these. And now, I do to. Maybe you can as well," I suggested.

She picked up Ebony and Ivory and almost instantly began twirling them just as well as I did. "This is so cool!" she squealed out.

"But it's strange. These guns are very low tech for this day and age. I was expecting a pair of Brawler pistols, or maybe Razers. But not these," I thought out loud.

"Maybe they're custom built on the inside as well as on the outside. They are a sweet design," replied Dawn.

"Could be. So who gets the Harpoon, Breaker and Armageddon?" I wondered as I placed the handguns back in their indents on the shelves.

"Hmm. Maybe we should pick them up and see which one feels more right in our hands?" suggested Dawn.

"Ok," I replied before picking up the Harpoon. Playing Mass Effect 1, the Harpoon was always my ideal sniper rifle. And it seemed that this was still the case here. I then placed the Harpoon back and picked up the Breaker. That too, felt quite comfortable in my hands. But when I picked up the Armageddon, there was less of a connection with the shotgun. As though I knew how to use it, but not as well as the other two.

"I think the Armageddon is yours," I said as I handed the gun to her. She took it and nodded. "I think so. I feel very familiar with the gun. Plus it was my favourite shotgun in the game."

"I think it's safe to say that our tastes and theirs are similar. But we should learn as much as we can about our new selves. We could act completely different and be caught out," I suggested.

"Maybe we can tell Anderson. He's always fair with Shepard. Maybe he'll be willing to listen to us?" offered the red head.

"Maybe. But we still need to know more about ourselves. I wonder if..." I broke off as I began to analyse my hands and arms. Then I blinked as the knowledge of what I was looking for popped into my head.

"What are you looking for?" Dawn asked.

"My Omni-tool. Those things are always connected to the extranet. I was just wondering how to turn them on when suddenly, I knew. Like the knowledge of the 'me' in this world was triggered when I thought about it and then transferred into my own mind, like with the weapons," I replied. I then twisted my wrist to the side slightly, and an orange 3D holographic interface appeared around my right arm.

"Cool..." I grinned.

"So I just think about it, huh?" murmured Dawn. Only a few seconds passed before she copied my wrist movements, and her Omni-tool appeared around her right arm.

With the knowledge on how to operate our new toys fired up in our brains, we sat down on one of the couches and began to search the extranet, personal files, past audio/video recordings and mission files of ourselves. After a few hours of searching, we had a good handle on who exactly our duplicates from this reality were.

Personality and behaviour wise, we were almost completely the same. So no chance of accidentally tripping up on that side.

We were N7 soldiers who were spacers on the same ship. Our parents were all in the navy and were very good friends and in turn, so were we. We all travelled together as our parents were in the same squad, so we always stayed together when our parents were out. Dawn and I enlisted into the Alliance military at age 18.

We continued to stay together as we were a perfect team. The Alliance, not wanting such excellent teamwork to go to waste, allowed us to continue working together throughout training, missions, Special Forces training and then N7 missions. We served through the Skyllian Blitz while on shore leave. Thanks to our brilliant teamwork, we single-handedly held our own and sealed up the breach, saving the inhabitants of Elysium and becoming true heroes in the eyes of the Alliance. I was promoted to Lieutenant Commander, the same rank as Shepard, while Dawn attained the rank of Lieutenant.

In terms of class, I was an Infiltrator. I preferred to use a sniper rifle and my personal firearms for attacking and I was crazy accurate with using them. I had access to a few Infiltrator talents; Overload and Sabotage. I also had enhanced reflexes, speed and endurance.

"Like a ninja," I chuckled to Dawn before continuing.

Dawn was a Vanguard; strong in biotics and with weapons, enhanced reflexes, speed and acrobatics, preferring to dance all over the battlefield, delivering accurate gunfire and biotic blasts to slow enemies down before finishing them off.

While going through our history, I noticed that we had a long list of receipts from the small Raman stand in the Neon Markets on the Zakera Ward. Thinking about raman made me realise that I never did get a chance to eat my left over birthday pizza back at my place.

Yesterday was my birthday, and Dawn's present was a copy of Mass Effect 3. I was bummed out because I didn't have the money to buy it at the time of its release, but Dawn came through for me. We spent the whole day indoors, experiencing the final act in the Mass Effect story. In the end we had to go to sleep, so we finished the game in the morning.

At that point, my stomach growled at me loudly.

"Someone's hungry," smirked Dawn before she blushed as her stomach complained as well.

"Feel up to some Ramen?" I asked.

"Would I ever!" she grinned. "The stand in Neon Markets?"

"Yep. Apparently we're regulars there," I explained.

"Awesome! Let's go get some food!" Dawn cheered.

"Ok! But, how do we get there?" I asked. I thought about it and it came to me. "Oh, I guess we drive there ourselves. Apparently I have a car downstairs that we can use as transportation."

"Super! Let's go!"

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><p>I was thankful there was an auto pilot built into the aircar I was driving, because I was completely unfocused on the airlane we were in. My eyes were looking everywhere, taking in the sights, as was Dawn.<p>

It was amazing at how similar the Mass Effect world was between the game and the real. The same textures, objects and such, just real looking and not graphic. That, and there was a whole lot more to see.

It took us 15 minutes to reach level 26 of the Neon Markets on the Zakera Ward. From there it was easy to get to the Raman Stand in question.

"Hey! It's my two favourite customers! Looking good you two!" the chef called out from behind the counter. He looked much older than his profile in the game. He had dark grey hair and wore white robes.

I focused on his face and the name 'Teuchi Ichiraku' popped into my head. I looked to Dawn and saw she was just as surprised at this development as I was.

"Hey Ayame! Look who it is!" Teuchi called behind him. In response an attractive brunette popped up from behind a stove and immediately smiled. "Hey you two! Nice to see you two back again!" She wore a white robe identical to Teuchi's and a bright white bandana worn in her hair.

"Nice to be back!" I greeted before we slid into two seats at the counter.

"So what will it be?" Teuchi asked.

"I'll have a large chicken ramen please!" I replied.

"I'll have the same," added Dawn.

"Coming right up!" the old man said before he turned and got to work.

We waited for a few seconds before turning to each other.

"The Ichirakus?" I asked.

"From Naruto?" asked Dawn.

"Sweet!" we both grinned.

"So how ya been old man Ichiraku!" I asked.

"Same old, same old," he replied.

"How bout you two?" Ayame asked.

"Well we just got back from a mission not too long ago," Dawn replied.

"And you came straight here? Now that's dedication!" Teuchi grinned.

"What can we say? We love your ramen. Best damn ramen in the whole galaxy!" I praised.

"Aww shucks Josh," Teuchi replied, grinning.

We didn't have to wait long before two hot, steaming, large bowls of chicken ramen were placed in front of us.

"Itadakimasu!" Dawn and I cried out before we dug in.

"Moir! So good!" I moaned before continuing.

"I can die happy now!" Dawn said.

"Nice to see we still haven't lost our touch," Ayame smiled.

"You? Lose your touch? Ha! As if!" I scoffed before returning to the ramen. Teuchi laughed loudly and would've replied but a new order came in and the two began to cook once again.

"So _when_ do you think we are?" Dawn spoke to me softly. The surrounding area was busy and it was hard to hear a normal toned conversation unless you were really close by, but in a new universe, it was always better to be safe than sorry.

"I'm not sure," I replied before activating my Omnitool. In the home screen where most accessed info was displayed, was the date and time. I looked at it, and my eyes widened slightly.

"It's 2183. Shepard begins his mission to catch Saren in this year. I wonder exactly when. I wonder if we were with him in the Skyllian Blitz?" I said.

In response Dawn activated her Omnitool and typed away on it. After a few moments she looked up at me, horrified.

"I just did a search for Commander Shepard. The search came up with nothing."

"What?" I gasped. "B-but, if there's no Shepard... then who's going to find out about the Reapers and save the galaxy?" I was shocked. To think that Commander Shepard didn't exist here was almost beyond belief.

"I don't know..." Dawn murmured. We were silent for a few minutes, the last few dregs of our ramen forgotten.

_Beep beep! Beep beep!_

"The hell?" I said as I looked down at my activated Omnitool. It said that a secure call from a person named Anderson was coming through.

"You don't think that could be _the_ Capitan Anderson, do you?" Dawn asked.

"Dunno. Let's find out," I replied before accepting the call.

"Lieutenant Commander Kitsuné, Staff Lieutenant Kissane. How are you two doing?" Anderson's voice filtered through the internal speakers.

"We're doing well sir," I replied respectfully, not sure on our relations to the first member who graduated from the N7 program.

"Good to hear. Your new assignment, Kitsuné, is as my XO on the SSV Normandy for a shakedown run to Eden Prime. You are to report to Hanger 09 on Arcturus Station for launch tomorrow at 20:00 EST (Earth Standard Time). And I wouldn't dream of splitting up the most famous team in the N7 Special Forces. So Dawn is directed to work under you," Anderson said. By the sounds of it, he was well acquainted with us.

"Yes, sir! We'll report at Hanger 09 on Arcturus Station at 20:00 EST tomorrow for a shakedown voyage on the SSV Normandy," I repeated back.

"Very good. We await your arrival." And with that, the call was cut off.

There was silence between my best friend and I.

"So..." I finally said, breaking the ice. "It seems that we're to take Commander Shepard's place on the Normandy." I sighed. "Do you think we can pull it off?"

"I don't know. We have knowledge of the events that will happen, but this universe is different. It's quite possible that the events that will play out in the next few months will be different. We'll just have to see," Dawn replied, looking worried, but determined.

"But what about the ending? I don't want to go through all that effort knowing that I'm just gonna die in the end! I want to live," I said, still talking softly. Dawn's determined face gave way to an even more worried tone than before.

"Me too. We felt so cheated at the ending, but, as far as I can tell, this is our reality now. If we can find a way home before we die, great. But let's not worry about it right now. We can think about this more later," she said.

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><p>(AN: Hi-o! Review up guys and girls. There might be a gap between this chapter and the next one coming out as I'll be saving up to buy an Xbox 360 Slim and a copy of Mass Effect as well as some game recording equipment and software, specifically the Kaiser baas: Series 8 Game Recorder. I could use the videos on Youtube, but they don't take the same choices as I'll do in the game and this story. So be patient. I'll continue to write more on my other stories while this all happens. The new chapter for 'The Sacred Thirteen' will come out in four days. Continue to review my work please. It's always nice to hear what others think of my work, even constructive criticism is welcome. But no flamers. No one likes little bitchy flamers. Kitsuné signing out.)<p> 


	3. Chapter 3: The Real Mission to Eden Prim

**UPDATE 10/03/2012: **_This chapter will be slightly updated due to the knowledge of the ending of Mass Effect 3._

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: The Real Mission to Eden Prime<strong>

It took us 6 hours to get to Arcturus Station from hiring a small military ship to transport ourselves. Fortunately, it seemed that ME (Mass Effect) Dawn had some training in piloting, so it was easy for her to pull up the memories and fly the ship.

As she flew she ship, I took the liberty to upload all our music from our iPhones to our separate Omnitools. I also uploaded all my videos that were loaded on my laptop. There was no way I was going to lose all my stuff just because I got transported to an alternate reality. Thank god the Omnitools still supported Bluetooth and Wi-Fi otherwise I would be stuck in this place with no music. And music meant everything to me and Dawn.

At one point Dawn called me up to the cockpit to see the Mass Relay that would take us to the Arcturus System. I was in instant awe at how simply massive the thing was; it was huge. It was shaped like an open ended keyhole with two long, curved metal "arms" with a set of revolving rings in between them, containing a massive, blue-glowing element zero core. As we drew closer, the Mass Effect core shot lightning at our ship which created which then seemed to mould around our ship, like an energy shield. And then the universe seemed to stretch as our craft was shot along a corridor of what could only be described as subspace. Not two seconds later we popped out the other end.

During the rest of the trip we discussed many things. The first up was the obvious; how to not die at the end of this journey? We went from developing big honking space cannons to blast the Reapers away to finding a new way to use the Crucible to destroy the Reapers. There were many possibilities. Whether they were doable needed to be explored further.

Then we discussed who was going to be chosen as Spectre. I said that it would probably be both of us since we were both heroes of the Skyllian Blitz. However Dawn wasn't so sure. But we agreed that if only one of us was going to be chosen, the other wouldn't get too depressed and would support the one who was chosen.

From there we docked at the Arcturus Station. It was reasonably big, having about 45,000 people on the station at any given time. After handing the ship off for someone to fly it back, we booked a place to stay and slept for a few hours before the launch.

And now we were looking at the beautiful SSV Normandy. She really was something else. Born from the designs of Turian and Human ships, she was a sleek, fighter jet looking ship. Painted black and white with a red stripe along the sides; the name of the ship printed in bold black letters along the sides.

We ourselves were dressed in our N7 Onyx armour with my Harpoon and Breaker attached to my back and the Armageddon attached to Dawn's armour. Our handguns were holstered at our hips. At one point I was worried about Dawn's long hair and the fact that it would be easily tangled into several nooks of her armour. But she simply smiled and began to wrap her long hair up into a very tight bun to which a small amount of hair at the end was left out in a ponytail.

"Kitsuné! Kissane!" came a call, and we turned to see Captain Anderson walking over to us.

"Glad to see you could make it," he greeted warmly.

"Of course Capitan Anderson. You gave us the opportunity to serve on the ship that is the product of both Turian and Human ship designs. There's no way we were going to refuse this mission," I replied.

"You've done your homework," Anderson replied before looking at the ship. "The SSV Normandy is a prototype "deep scout" frigate, co-developed by the Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy with the sponsorship of the Citadel Council. She is optimized for solo reconnaissance missions deep within unstable and low security regions, using state-of-the-art stealth technology powered by an experimental drive core." We then began to walk over to the entrance.

The inside was the same as the original. We walked from the airlock to the cockpit where we saw Joker fiddling with the controls. Kaiden worked alongside him in the co-pilot seat.

He turned around and saw us. "Capitan Anderson," he smiled, standing up. Joker twisted his neck around to see us and then swivelled his chair around.

"Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko, Joker," Anderson greeted. "I'd like to introduce you to Commander Josh Kitsuné and Lieutenant Dawn Kissane, both graduates from the N7 program."

"Nice to meet you Commander, Lieutenant," Kaiden greeted as he shook mine and Dawn's hand.

"Likewise Lieutenant Alenko," I replied.

"Please, just Kaiden Commander," Kaiden corrected.

"Very will Kaiden," I nodded.

"Well you two look ok to me," Joker said, looking at the two of us.

"Good to know Joker," Dawn replied.

"We've got a Turian Spectre joining us on this mission but he's due to arrive later on. Let's continue the tour," offered Anderson and we walked down the aisle to arrive at the main hub; the galaxy map. A large holographic tool used for navigating the Milky Way.

"The Combat Information Center of the Normandy is unusual. Alliance ships usually place commanding officers in the middle of the room, to facilitate communication with subordinates, but the CO's station in the Normandy's CIC is at the back. This is because the Normandy has a turian design and their commanders prefer to look over their subordinates rather than be in the midst of them; the engineers wanted to observe how well it functioned within the human command structure," explained Anderson, before adding, "To be honest, I kind of like it."

"We do to, Anderson," I replied with Dawn nodding alongside me. We then descended the left set of stairs to the Quarters level.

"This is the Normandy's habitation deck containing the mess, crew sleeper pods, my private cabin and office, escape pod hatches, and the medical room," the Capitan said before he was interrupted when an older woman walked over to us.

"Capitan," she greeted with a smile.

"Ah, doctor. This is Commander Josh Kitsuné and Lieutenant Dawn Kissane. Josh, Dawn, this is Doctor Chakwas. She works in the medical ward," introduced Anderson.

"Hello," we nodded at her, smiling.

"Nice to meet both of you," she replied kindly.

"Capitan!" called another familiar voice and we turned to see an older man walking over to us. "Capitan, coordinates to Eden Prime are locked into the nav computer," he reported.

"Very good. Pressly, this is Commander Josh Kitsuné and Lieutenant Dawn Kissane. Josh, Dawn, this is our navigator, Pressly," Anderson introduced.

"Nice to meet you," he said and we shook hands.

"Same here," I smiled.

"Pressly here served on the SSV Agincourt before I requested his transfer to the Normandy," Anderson explained.

"You two are the heroes of the Skyllian Blitz, right? That was some good work you did there," Pressly said.

"Thanks Pressly," Dawn grinned.

After that we took the very slow elevator down to the next level.

"This is the engineering and storage level. The M35 Mako is stored on this level. The Mako is used for missions that require a wide amount of exploration on the ground. With its turreted 155mm mass accelerator cannon and coaxial-mounted machine gun, the Mako can provide a fire team with weapon support as well as mobility. Since Alliance marines may be required to fight on any world in a variety of planetary environments, the Mako is environmentally sealed and powered by a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell," Anderson explained.

"Ooohhh I'm getting fired up just thinking about driving it!" I grinned widely while looking at the vehicle.

Anderson began to laugh loudly. "I'm sure there'll be a chance for that soon enough."

We walked through the doors that lead to the engineering section containing the Normandy's drive core.

"The Normandy's IES (internal emission sink) stealth system is her most notable feature. For centuries, it was assumed that starship stealth was impossible. The heat generated by routine shipboard operations is easily detectable against the near absolute zero background temperature of space. The Normandy, however, is able to temporarily "store" this heat in lithium heat sinks deep within the hull. The Normandy can go to 'silent running' for around 2-3 hours, or drift passively through a system for days before having to vent and give away her position," Anderson continued his explanation.

"Very impressive," commented Dawn.

_"Capitan, Spectre Nihlus has just arrived on deck,"_ Jokers voice filtered through the comms.

"Thank you Joker. Disengage the Normandy from the dock and set her out to the Mass Relay," Anderson ordered before turning to us. "You're welcome to observe the jump from the cockpit. I've got some things to do before going to the briefing room. I'll comm you two when I need you there. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir!" we both intoned sharply before we headed back to the bridge.

* * *

><p>By the time we got to the command deck, the Normandy had already jumped. I cursed the lift silently, wanting to see the jump, and the Mass Relay for myself, even though I had already witnessed one. Looking at Dawn, I could tell she felt the same way.<p>

As we walked up to the cockpit, we passed Nihlus on the way. I was able to keep myself from staring at him as he was the first turian I had seen, face to face anyway, since coming here.

"I hate that guy," Joker commented when we reached the cockpit.

"Nihlus gave you a compliment, so you hate him," Kaiden replied, sounding bemused.

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom? That's "good". I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. So that's incredible! Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him onboard. Call me paranoid," Joker raved.

"You're paranoid. The Council helped fund this project. They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment," Kaiden pointed out.

"Yeah, that is the 'official' story. But only an idiot believes the official story," Joker shot back.

While we listened to this, we just couldn't keep our smiles off our faces. Joker just had that effect on people. I also wanted to blurt out what was really going on, but held back for fear of being called crazy. That and not wanting to change the timeline too much.

"I agree. It is fishy," I said as we walked closer to the front. "Why send a Specter to oversee a shakedown run. But then again, he's Turian and the Normandy is half Turian in design."

"So there's more going on here than the Captain's letting on?" Joker asked as he turned his head to look at us.

"Very possible. Just don't go asking Anderson. The Captain probably has a good reason for not disclosing the full details to us," Dawn said.

"Joker, status report!" came Anderson's voice through the intercom.

"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain. Stealth systems engaged. Everything looks solid," Joker reported.

"Good. Find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime," Anderson ordered.

"Aye aye, Captain. Better brace yourself, sir. I think Nihlus is headed your way," warned Joker.

"He's already here, Lieutenant," replied the Captain flatly.

"Ouch!" I whispered to Dawn, who giggled softly.

"Tell Commander Kitsuné and Lieutenant Kissane to meet me in the comm room for a debriefing," finished off Anderson.

"Be right over sir!" I called into the comm before Joker turned it off.

"He doesn't sound happy. Some crap must've come up," Dawn noted.

Joker made a dismissing sound. "The Captain always sounds like that when he's talking to me."

"I can't imagine why," replied Kaiden sarcastically.

* * *

><p>As we walked out of the cockpit and toward the briefing room, we heard Pressly and Engineer Adams talk about our turian guest.<p>

"Sounds like you're not a fan of Nihlus," I said to the navigator.

"Sorry Commander. Just having a chat with Adams down in engineering. Didn't mean to cause any trouble," he replied. "But you have to admit, something's odd about this mission. The whole crew feels it."

"Us as well," Dawn said. "And I think we're going to get some answers in a moment."

"I hope so. If all we're supposed to do is test out the stealth system, then why is Capitan Anderson in charge? And then there's Nihlus. Specters are elite operatives. Top covert agents. Why send a Spectre—a turian Spectre—on a shakedown run? It doesn't add up."

"Well that's not entirely true. Spectre's answer to the Council and this ship was funded by the council. Having a Spectre around is the Council's way of making sure all the reports about this ship are accurate. As for being a turian, well, this ship is half turian, so it makes sense they would send one of their own to oversee this run," I said.

"I… guess that's true," Pressly replied. "But I just can't shake this feeling that we're out here on false pretenses."

"Noted. Information is on a need-to-know basis, but we'll see if we can squeeze some info out of Anderson or Nihlus," Dawn replied.

"Understood ma'am, Commander," Pressly saluted us before going back to… whatever he was doing.

We then heard 'spy movies' from the opposite side of where Pressly was at and we walked over to see Jenkens talking to Ckakwas.

"What do you think Commander, Lieutenant? We won't be staying on Eden Prime too long, will we? I'm itching for some real action!" Jenkens said.

"I sincerely hope you're kidding, Corporal. Your 'real action' usually ends with me patching up crew members in the infirmary," Chakwas replied disdainfully.

"You should never go looking for trouble Corporal. You might just bite off more than you can chew, and pay the ultimate price for it," I said solemnly, as Dawn and I knew what was going to happen to this soldier.

"Finally, someone other than the Capitan who can show restraint," the Doc said, smiling at us.

"You're right, Commander. It's just this waiting is killing me. I've never been on a mission like this before. Not one with a Spectre on board!" he replied like a little kid seeing his role model for the first time.

"Just focus, keep your bearings, stay vigilant and you'll do fine," Dawn said, smiling at him.

"It's easy for you to say that. The two of you proved yourselves in the Blitz. Everyone knows what the two of you can do. This is my big chance! I need to show the brass what I can do!" he replied.

"If you make haste on a battlefield, your chances of surviving each encounter become much slimmer. The higher ups notice soldiers who can stay calm and not take unnecessary chances in battle. Charging in like a hero on some noble crusade is a sure fire way to get yourself killed," I said gently, but firmly.

"I… see. You've got a point. I guess with your experience, you would know," he said.

* * *

><p>Down in the briefing room we met up with Nihlus. I this time I managed to easily control my desire to simply stare at him in curiosity. He was dark skinned with his white facial tattoos in stark contrast to his face. He wore black and red armor.<p>

"Commander Kitsuné," he addressed me, seeming to ignore Dawn, who pouted slightly. "I was hoping you'd get here first. It will give us the chance to talk."

"Okay…" I said slowly.

"I'm interested in this world we're going to – Eden Prime. I've heard it's quite beautiful," the turian said.

"Haven't been there ourselves, but we hear it's a paradise," I replied, trying to include Dawn into this conversation.

""Yes… a paradise. Serene. Tranquil. Safe," Nihlus listed off.

'Not for long,' I thought to myself.

"Eden Prime has become something of a symbol for your people, hasn't it?" Nihlus continued. "Proof that humanity can not only establish colonies across the galaxy, but also protect them. But how safe is it, really?"

"No-where is truly safe, sir," I replied respectfully.

"Indeed. The galaxy can be a dangerous place. Is the Alliance truly ready for this?" he asked.

"Well Nihlus, we may be new to this, but we're doing the best we can," I replied truthfully. Nihlus simply looked at me with what might be mild curiosity before Anderson joined us.

"I think it's about time we told the Commander and Lieutenant what's really going on," the Capitan said.

"This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run," Nihlus said.

"Duh!" Dawn scoffed. The Capitan and Spectre looked at her. "Come on, the two of us and the crew aren't stupid. And you two aren't as subtle as you like to think." She then realized just who she was talking to. "Sirs," she added while looking down.

Anderson chuckled. "I guess we aren't. We're making a covert pick-up on Eden Prime. That's why we needed the stealth systems operational."

"I'm guessing this info was on a need-to-know basis?" I asked.

"That's right. A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation. It was Prothean," Anderson explained.

"Wow… then it must be really old," Dawn said. "Like 50,000 years old."

"Their legacy still remains. The Mass Relays, the Citadel, our ship drives – it's all based on Prothean tech," Nihlus said.

"This is big you two. The last time humanity made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology forward two hundred years. But Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring this beacon back to the Citadel for proper study," the Capitan explained.

"Obviously this goes beyond more mere human interests, Commander. This discovery could affect every species in Council space," Nihlus said.

"I agree. This discovery should be shared, not horded," I said. Nihlus gave me another one of those lazy curious looks before speaking again. "Well, the beacon's not the only reason I'm here, Kitsuné."

"Nihlus is here to evaluate you in action Josh," Anderson said.

"Am I getting a promotion?" I asked.

"The Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time. Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy. We want more say with the Citadel Council. The Spectres represent the Citadel Council's power and authority. If they accept a human into their ranks, it shows how far the Alliance has come," Anderson said.

"So that's why you asked me if the Alliance was ready," I said to Nihlus, who nodded. "You held off an enemy assault during the Blitz single-handed. You showed not only courage but also incredible skill."

"I didn't do it alone. Dawn was by my side the entire time," I said.

"Yes, but there's only a single space for a human Spectre. And you are of higher rank so that's why I put your name forward as a candidate for the Spectre's ranks," he replied.

"I see," I replied. I didn't have to look to know that Dawn was disappointed at this decision. But as I turned she looked up and smiled at me. I smiled back, grateful she was still with me.

"Earth needs this, Kitsuné. We're counting on you," Anderson said. "And if you are chosen, I'll assign Lieutenant Kissane to accompany you." Here Dawn sighed in relief. I guess she was worried about the possibility of being transferred away from me if I did become a Spectre.

"I need to see your skills for myself, Commander. Eden Prime will be the first of several missions together," Nihlus said.

"You will be in charge of the ground team. Secure the beacon and get it onto the Normandy ASAP. Nihlus will accompany you to observe the mission," Anderson said.

"Well I reckon we might run into some resistance. Eden Prime is on the border of the Terminus Systems. I bet this beacon will be a big enough prize to attack this ship. We should be quite wary on this mission," I said, demonstrating some of my knowledge of the Mass Effect universe.

"Very true," Nihlus said, nodding approvingly.

"We should be getting close to Eden—" Anderson was cut off when Joker spoke through the intercom.

"Capitan! We've got a problem."

"What's wrong Joker?" he asked.

"Transmission from Eden Prime, sir; you better see this!" Joker replied before the briefing screen flashed before showing a tense battlefield. Shots were firing all over the place. The transmission showed two women, one in white and red light Phoenix armor, the other in blue light Partisan armor, shooting at an unseen oppressor. The two ran toward the man who had the video transmitter and the white one pushed him out of a short burst of fire before returning fire. The view then began to wildly flail about for a bit, not really showing us who was attacking.

"We're under attack!" an officer reported into the transmission. "Taking heavy casualties. I repeat, heavy casualties! We can't…. eed evac! They came out of nowhere. We need—" at this point he was cut off when a very loud noise came through the speakers. My blood chilled as I immediately recognized the sound, and then the sight as the cameraman looked at what was making that noise. It was a giant squid like ship that discharged red lightning as it descended through the atmosphere. It was a Reaper ship. More than that, it was Sovereign. A few seconds after that, the transmission died into static.

"Everything cuts out after that. No comm traffic at all. Just goes dark. There's nothing," Joker reported.

"Reverse and hold at 38.5," ordered Anderson.

The recording reversed to the point where it showed the Reaper and stopped there. There was silence as the other two people in this room tried to make sense of what they were looking at.

"Status report!" barked Anderson.

"Seventeen minutes out, Captain. No other Alliance ships in the area," Joker replied.

"Take us in Joker, fast and quiet," the Capitan said. 'This mission just got a lot more complicated."

"A small strike team can move quickly without drawing attention. It's our best chance to secure the beacon," Nihlus said.

"Then you'd better get your gear ready," Anderson said. In turn Nihlus left to go get ready.

"Tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up Commander. You're going in," Anderson said to Dawn and I.

"Yes sir," we said, saluting before we left the room, but not before we took a last look at the menace that would claim so many lives in the weeks to come.

* * *

><p>(AN: Recently I discovered a series of YouTube videos that show all the possible dialogue options in Mass Effect so now I can concentrate on writing the story. Only a few more days till the big 3 comes out. I'm sure you are all looking forward to playing it as much as I am. The first two chapters have been edited slightly and I will not be accepting any more OCs for the story. And finally, despite the fact that in Mass Effect 3 we'll finally be able to see what Tali looks under the mask, in this story I will be sticking to what I've already thought up for her skin, hair and face. If this contradicts the canon, then too bad. That is all.)<p> 


	4. Chapter 4: Groundside on Eden

**Chapter 4: Groundside on Eden**

The Normandy descended through Eden Prime's atmosphere in stealth mode. As we slowed down to skim across the landscape, Joker's voice filtered through the intercom. "Somebody was doing some serious digging here, Captain."

Nihlus, Dawn, Kaiden, Jenkins and I were readying our equipment and weapons as Anderson gave us one last briefing before we landed. I found out that our helmets could fold into themselves and be tucked automatically into our chest armor so we could easily take them off for any conversation. This I was glad as I never liked it when I had to speak through my helmet while playing the game.

"Your team's the muscle in this operation, Commander. Go in heavy and head straight for the dig site," Anderson said.

"What about survivors, Captain?" Kaiden asked.

"The beacon is your top priority. Helping any survivors is secondary to that," was the Captain's response.

"Approaching drop point one," Joker said as the ship slowed down again. The cargo bay door opened, late afternoon sunlight flooding the bay area.

"Nihlus? You're coming with us?" Jenkins asked.

"I move faster on my own," the turian replied as he headed for the exit.

"Nihlus will scout. He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission; otherwise, I want radio silence," Anderson ordered.

"Yes sir," Dawn replied smartly.

"We've got his back, Captain," I added.

"The mission's yours now, Kitsuné. Good luck!" Anderson said.

"We are approaching drop point two," Joker said as the ship slowed down for the second time. As soon as the Normandy was stationary, we ran forward and jumped out. Kaiden and Jenkins immediately fanned out as they looked around for any hostile activity.

"LZ secure, Commander!" Kaiden called from his position.

"Good job Kaiden," I said as Dawn and I observed the area. There were craters and spots of burnt grass everywhere.

"Oh god. What happened here?" Jenkins asked.

There was a comm tone inside my helmet from Nihlus. On the inside of my transparent visor a holographic display showing the Specter's name and status flashed on the HUD. "This place got hit hard, Commander. Hostiles everywhere. Keep your guard up."

"Noted," I replied back before we began to move forward. I had my handguns out, as did Dawn. Kaiden and Jenkins had assault rifles ready.

"Smells like smoke and death," Kaiden said.

"You thought it would smell like sunshine and daises?" Dawn asked sarcastically. I could tell from the tone that she was grinning.

"No, I guess not," he replied.

We made our way down where we passed some Gas Bags. "So Jenkins?" I spoke up. "How's it feel to be back home. Despite the attack?"

"Well on the one side it's horrifying to see my home so bombarded. But on the other side, it's good to be back here. I just hope my parents are safe," the soldier replied.

"You can give them a call after we get the beacon," I promised.

We stayed silent after that and continued on our way. We passed the occasional gasbag but nothing serious. Until we started passing bodies.

"Oh my god! What are those?" Jenkins asked, horrified. And I didn't blame him. I knelt down next to one of the bodies. The body was thin and frail, as if any and all fat and most of the water had been removed from it. The face was gaping wide and where there used to be eyes, there were now open holes. It looked like a body that had decayed over a thousand years.

I glanced at Dawn and she did the same to me. We knew what these things were. We then continued on.

After about 5 minutes of no hostile encounters whatsoever, we now neared to the area where Jenkins was going to get shot by a Geth Recon Drone. I wasn't going to let that happen this time. I held back Jenkins as he was just about to pass me into the impending wall of gunfire and put up my fist to halt Kaiden before Dawn and I moved slowly to some cover. We crouched down behind the stone cover and I turned to Kaiden and Jenkins. I held up my hand to get them to stay where they were before I slowly peeked around my cover.

I spotted two Geth Recon Drones. I ducked back and motioned for Jenkins and Kaiden to quickly get to some cover. I also used handsigns to say that there were two bogies at 12 o'clock bearing down on our position.

Kaiden and Jenkins took up cover and I held up three fingers. I slowly counted down before we poked out heads and guns out of cover.

The drones immediately began firing on us, but thanks to the planning, we took down the drones quickly without any injuries.

"Clear!" Dawn said as we continued to move forward.

"Nice save Commander," Jenkins thanked. "If you hadn't pulled me back I would have…"

"Just being prepared, as Nihlus said," I replied. "And don't sweat it. We back each other up and save each other's asses if needed. It's why they call it a team."

We continued our way through the rocky surface and cleared the next hill. A few more Recon Drones came our way but they were destroyed quickly.

"I've got some burned out buildings here, Kitsuné. A lot of bodies," Nihlus reported.

"We've run into some Geth Drones. No casualties yet. Recommend caution," Dawn replied.

"Roger that. I'm going to check out the buildings. I'll try to catch up with you at the dig site," Nihlus said before he switched his comm off.

After making it through a group of trees and a few more drones we came across some action. Two figures were retreating from a few Geth troopers. One was decked out in Phoenix armor while the second was wearing the telltale colors of Partisan armour. Both were women and were shooting behind them. It was Ashley Williams and someone new that I had not seen before. No-one was supposed to survive from Ashley's squad.

"Spread out!" I called to my squad as I holstered my handguns and drew my Harpoon Sniper Rifle and leveled it at the first Geth heretic I saw. I quickly shot the Geth in the optics and in the back of my mind I marveled at the ease of which I managed a head shot in such a quick time. Next to me Dawn had also holstered her own handguns and had blasted a shotgun round at the second Geth platform from her Armageddon. The third Geth trooper was taken down by some crossfire delivered from Kaiden and Jenkins.

"Clear!" I said as I scanned the path ahead. "Kaiden, Jenkins, Dawn, what have you got?"

A chorus of 'Clear's was heard before we grouped together. I took the time to check out this newcomer. She was slender and curvaceous and at a height of 5'8". She was human but her helmet visor was darkened so her facial features were hidden.

"Thanks for your help. I didn't think we were going to make it," Ashley said.

"Are you always this fatalistic?" asked the newcomer in a light and carefree sounding tone. "But you're right. You totally pulled our butts out of the fire."

"Glad I could help. I'm Commander Josh Kitsuné. This is Staff Lieutenant Dawn Kissane, Staff Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko and Corporal Richard Jenkins," I introduced my team.

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212," Ash introduced.

"Corporal Kali Daniels, Tech Support," the newcomer said.

"Are you the one in charge, sir?" Ashley asked.

"That's right. You two ok? Any injuries?" I asked.

"Just a couple of scrapes and bumps. Nothing serious. The others weren't so lucky," Ash replied. "Oh man…"

"It's ok. Take your time," Dawn said gently.

"Yes ma'am. We were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit," Ashley began.

"We tried to get off a distress call but they cut off our communications. The two of us have been trying to get to safer ground since," Kali continued.

"Are you two all that's left of your squad?" I asked, already knowing the grim reply.

"Well, we tried to double back to the beacon. But we walked straight into a damn ambush," Kali said.

"I think… I think we're the only ones left," Ash said.

"The Geth have been putting up quite a fight it seems," I said.

"You mentioned the Geth before. But they haven't been seen beyond the Veil in nearly 200 years. What changed?" Kaiden asked.

"Beats me, but we've got a Prothean beacon to recover. I'm betting that's what the Geth are after. Would you two be willing to join us? We could always use the extra back up." I asked the two armored women.

"You can count on us!" Kali agreed in a happy voice as she reloaded the clip on her Razor Pistol. I got the distinct feeling that she was grinning.

"The dig site is close. Just over that rise," Ash said, pointing up the path.

"Right. Let's go," I said as I raised my sniper rifle.

We moved down the hill until we came across the dig site. A few Geth troopers guarded the site, but they were dealt with quickly thanks to a few well-placed shots from me.

"Ok. We're at the Prothean dig site but there's no Prothean beacon," Dawn said as she looked around.

"It must've been moved," Ashley said.

"Was it the Geth?" Jenkins asked.

"Hard to say. Checking out the research camp might give us some clues," Kali replied.

"Well if there are any survivors, then they might know what happened to the beacon," I reasoned.

"If there are any, they'll be hiding at the research camp that's over this ridge," Ashley supplied.

"Where's Nihlus?" Jenkins asked. At that moment there was a comm blip, showing a transmission from the turian Spectre.

"Change of plans, Kitsuné. There's a small spaceport up ahead. I want to check it out. I'll wait for you there," he said.

"Stay alert," I cautioned.

"Will do," he replied.

We made our way up the side of the dig site. We soon spotted the camp up ahead. There were scorch marks and several dead bodies around.

"This place got hit hard," Ashley said.

"It's a good place for an ambush. Keep your guard up," Kaiden added.

"Yes sir, Capitan Obvious sir!" Dawn replied overenthusiastically.

"I'm just saying," Kaiden defended. Kali giggled at this.

I shook my head in amusement as their light squabble finished up. Dawn always thought Kaiden was a bit of an idiot. I did to, but I knew he was a good person. It came out properly in the third game.

We came up over the ridge to the research camp, only to see a sickening site. Tall metal spires with what looked like people speared on top. However a closer look showed that they were more machine now, with bright glowing spots covering all over their bodies.

'It's the space zombies. Yay,' I thought to myself. At that point the spires were pulled back into the ground, releasing the Husks.

"Oh my god! They're still alive?" Kaiden gasped.

"What did the Geth do to them?" Ask wondered as she prepped her rifle.

"I think it would be better if we shoot first and ask questions later, don't you?" Kali asked as she began to shoot at one of the incoming Husks. I raised my handguns and began to fire at the second one. One of the bullets went through the head and it paused before rushing me again.

"Shit!" I cursed before Dawn used her biotics to Throw the charging space zombie away. As it sailed through the air I tore into it with several accurate shots. It then dropped from the air, dead. Two identical thumps alerted me that the others had taken care of their Husks as well.

After regrouping we made our way to the only building around. And, as was in the game, one of the doors was locked.

"I'm not too good at hacking," I confessed. "And I really don't want to use omni-gel if I don't need to."

"I'm your hacker girl," Kali replied, saluting happily as she pressed to the front and readied her Omnitool. "Just give me a sec." I looked over her shoulder to see that the hacking setup was much the same as it was in the Bypass minigame for the Xbox 360 version. The lock would present a command to enter on the Omnitool display and you needed to select the correct command to match up the one given. Depending on the strength of the encryption the lock had, between 3 and five commands needed to be entered. Also, if one didn't press the correct command in the time allotted, usually about half a second, then the lock would freeze up and one would need to resort to omni-gel to force through the lock.

"Ok boss, she's unlocked," Kali reported.

"Thanks. Jenkins, you take point. I'll back you up," I said as I moved out of the way.

"Yes sir," he acknowledged before moving to the front. Kali pressed the door controls and the door slid open. We then moved in, but we relaxed as soon as we saw the occupants.

"Humans! Thank the Maker!" a female scientist with short brown hair and green eyes sighed in relief. We all squeezed inside and saw that there was a second person; a man with short black hair who also looked to be a scientist.

"Close the door! Before they come back!" the man pleaded.

"It's ok, we took care of the surrounding hostiles," Dawn replied gently.

"Thank you," the female scientist said. "I think we'll be ok now. It looks like everyone's gone."

"You're Dr. Warren, the one in charge of the excavation. Do you know what happened to the beacon?" Ash asked.

"It was moved to the spaceport this morning. Manuel and I stayed behind to help pack up the camp," the Doctor explained. "When the attack came, the marines held them off long enough for us to hide. They gave their lives to save us."

"No one is saved. The age of humanity is ended. Soon, only ruin and corpses will remain," Dr. Manuel said in a crazy tone.

"Any chance you've seen a turian round here?" Jenkins asked.

"I saw him," the crazy one spoke up again. "The prophet. Leader of the enemy. He was here, before the attack."

"That's impossible. Nihlus was with us on the Normandy before the attack. He couldn't have been here," Kaiden argued.

"Might have been another turian," Kali suggested.

"I-I'm sorry. Manuel's still a bit… unsettled. We haven't seen your turian. We've been hiding in here since the attack," explained Dr. Warren.

"Yeah, what's wrong with him anyways?" Dawn asked.

"He has a brilliant mind, but he's always a bit… unstable. Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin after all," the Doc replied.

"Is it madness to see the future? To see the destruction rushing toward us? To understand there is no escape? No hope? No, I am not mad. I'm the only sane one left!" Manuel jittered like someone who was insane.

'There may be some truth to that,' I thought to myself. Most likely his fragile mind was being hit harder than most by Sovereign's indoctrination fields, despite the brief time it had been on this planet.

"I gave him an extra dose of his meds after the attack," Warren apologized.

"Ok Williams, can you lead us to the spaceport?" I asked. Even though knocking out the crazy one was fun in the game, I was thinking that here it would be better to not do so. I could see that Dawn felt the same, feeling pity for him.

"You can't stop it. Nobody can stop it. Night is falling. The darkness of eternity," Manuel raved as we made our way out of the room. I caught the sound of Warren suggesting that he go and lie down to let the meds kick in before the door closed.

"Ok, Williams and Kaiden will take point. Dawn and I will be behind you and Jenkins and Daniels will guard our 6, understood?" I ordered. A chorus of yes's and affirmatives were said before we made our way around the building and up the path. As we did so I was thinking on what the crazy scientist had said. I was so absorbed in thinking about the impending Reaper Invasion that I jumped in surprise when a loud gunshot ripped through the semi-silence.

'Oh god… Nihlus…' I thought. There was no way I could have warned him though. I couldn't have exactly called him and said, "How's it going Nihlus? Any injuries? Pulled a muscle? No? Good. Oh and FYI, Saren's a traitor and is working with the Geth Heritics." He would have been more suspicious of me than him.

"How do you suppose Nihlus is going?" Jenkins asked. I didn't have the heart to reply. Neither did Dawn.

"I'm sure he's doing ok Jenkins," Kaiden assured.

We crested the next hill and the sight made me stop dead in my tracks. There, looming far in the background maybe ten or twenty kilometres from the spaceport, was Sovereign, or Nazara as the Geth called it. The Reaper was just huge. Playing the game, it looked big, but in real life, it was another story all together. It reached a height of two kilometres, dominating the horizon entirely, with massive red electrical bolts discharging from the main body. I felt like the time when I was on Menae and saw the giant Reaper slowly moving across the landscape in the third game. I was in total awe, and slightly fearful. And that was only amplified as I saw Sovereign with my own eyes. I looked at Dawn, only to see her shaking very softly.

"What is that?" Kaiden asked in horror.

I placed my hand on Dawn's shoulder. She looked at me and I smiled at her, hoping to calm her down. It worked and she stopped shivering.

"It's the ship that touched down here before everything went to hell… but the Mass Effect core in that thing must be ginormous to allow it to land on the planet's surface," Kali replied. She sounded a little less surprised at the sight as she had been there when it had landed. But her tone said that she was still in awe at the sight.

We stood there and watched as Sovereign slowly began to ascend into the sky. Massive plumes of smoke gushed out from an exhaust point as it continued to rise. We would of continued to watch it until it had disappeared from our sites, but a sudden barrage of bullets woke us from our awe induced state.

"Dawn! You take out the Husks! I'll get the Geth!" I called out as I holstered my handguns and took out my sniper rifle. Dawn quickly blasted shotgun shells into the advancing Husks so I could advance and snipe the Geth. One was taken care of by blowing up an explosive barrel nearby while the second was downed by two shots to the chest area.

Dawn then moved to another locked door and motioned for Kali to work her magic. After the door was opened, a voice called out from inside. "Everybody stay calm out there. We're coming out. We're not armed." The door opened and three people walked out with their hands up. I holstered my rifle and this told the others to do the same. The three relaxed a bit more after we did so.

"Is it safe? Are they gone?" one, a female, asked.

"Yep, for the moment," I replied.

"Those things were crawling all around the shed. They would have found us for sure. We owe you our lives," the one who spoke first said.

"Not a problem," Jenkins replied, puffing himself up a bit, trying to look like it was him that was responsible for killing off the enemy.

"I… I still can't believe it. When we saw that ship I thought it was all over!" the female shook her head in bewilderment.

"It showed up right before the attack. Knew it was trouble the second I saw it. So we made a break for the sheds," the first one explained.

"Did you get a good look at the ship?" Kaiden asked.

"I was too busy running to study it," the first one replied.

"Tell them about the noise, Cole," the female prompted, identifying the first one. "That awful noise."

"Yeah… it was emitting some kind of signal as it descended. Sounded like shrieks of the damned. Only… it was coming from inside your own head," Cole said, clearly disturbed quite a bit by this.

"You think it was trying to block communications, Commander?" Kaiden asked.

"Doesn't sound like the same thing," Kali supplied.

"Well whatever it was, felt like it was tearing right through my skull. Almost made it impossible to think," Cole shivered.

"Well we gotta get going. Alliance support should be here soon to check up on you," I assured, and it seemed that I did my job well as they all sighed in relief.

"Hey Cole. We're just a bunch of farmers. These guys are soldiers. Maybe we should give them the stuff?" the second male suggested, though his voice quietened down toward the end.

"Geez, Blake. You gotta learn when to shut up!" Cole growled at Blake.

"You have something to say Cole?" I asked. It wasn't a threatening tone, but I did allow some coldness to seep into my voice.

Cole got the message and held up one hand. "Ok ok, some guys were running a small smuggling ring. Nothing major. In exchange for a cut of the profits, we let them store packages in our sheds."

"You're breaking the law, Cole," Kaiden said.

"Hey, we're not hurting anybody! Hell most of the time, I don't even know what's in the packages. I just thought there was something we could use to defend ourselves. There was a pistol. I figured that it would come in handy if those things came back. But I reckon you'll get more use out of it then we will," Cole protested.

'Time for me to turn on the old charm,' I mentally grinned. "We're risking our lives to save this colony. You sure there's nothing else in there that could give us a hand?" I asked casually.

"Yeah... there is one more thing. I was going to sell it after this was all over… but you probably deserve it more than I do," he replied, sounding a little ashamed that he had kept it from me. At that point Blake went inside to get the items.

"Who's your contact at the spaceport, Cole? What's his name?" Ash asked harshly.

"He's not a bad guy!" Cole defended his friend. "I don't want to get him in trouble. Besides I'm no snitch."

"Cole, I understand that you want to protect your friend, I really do. But he could have something to do, or even vital information about this assault. Please, we need his name," I empathized gently.

"Yeah… ok. You're right. His name's Powell. Works the docks at the spaceport. If he's still alive," he sighed.

"I promise if he's still alive, we won't let anything bad happen to him, ok?" Dawn promised.

"Ok, sure," he nodded as Blake came back with the goods. A Stinger pistol and a Combat Sensor weapon upgrade. I handed the pistol to Kaiden who swapped out his Striker for it. In turn I removed my sniper rifle and secured the Combat Sensor onto it.

After all upgrades had been finished we moved on down to the spaceport. There were a few fires burning from destroyed equipment. And soon into exploring the complex, we came across the still body of Nihlus.

"Oh my god! Nihlus!" Jenkins gasped out as he saw the dead body. He went to go investigate and in the process we all saw something move behind the crates next to the body. We all leveled our pistols or handguns at the source.

"Wait! Don't—Don't shoot! I'm one of you! I'm human!" a man called out as he showed himself from behind the crates.

"Next time don't sneak up on us like that. It's a good way to get yourself killed," Kali suggested.

"I… I'm sorry. I was hiding. From those creatures," the man replied. We then lowered our guns. "My name's Powell. I saw what happened to that turian. The other one shot him."

"I told you," Kali piped up. "A second turian."

"What happened?" Jenkins asked as by now he had returned to us.

"Well, the other one got here first. He was waiting when your friend showed up. He called him Saren. I… I think they knew each other. Your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down… and Saren killed him. Shot him right in the back. I'm just lucky he didn't see me behind the crates," Powell explained.

'He probably did notice and didn't think he was worth killing,' I thought. "We were told a Prothean beacon was brought to the spaceport. Where is it?" I asked out loud.

"It's over on the other platform. Probably where that guy Saren was headed. He hopped on the cargo train right after he killed your friend. I knew that beacon was trouble. Everything's gone to hell since we found it. First that damn mothership showed up. Then the attack. They killed everyone. Everyone! If I hadn't been behind the crates I'd be dead too!"

"Did anyone else make it behind the crates and survive?" Kaiden asked.

"They never had a chance. I… I was already behind them when the attack started up," he confessed.

"Wait a minute. You were hiding there before the attack?" Kali questioned.

"I… sometimes I need a nap to get through my shift. I sneak off behind the crates to grab forty winks where the supervisor can't find me," Powell replied.

"You survived because you were lazy?" Ask asked incredulously.

"Easy Williams," I said to calm her down. I then turned back to Powell. "You'd be dead if you didn't go for that nap."

"Yeah… Yeah, I guess. I don't really want to think about it," the dock worker replied.

"Oh by the way, Cole mentioned that you're his contact. In the smuggling ring," I said.

His reaction at first was surprise. He was slow to feign disbelief afterwards. "What? No!" Seeing my unchanged face told him that his cover was blown. "I mean… What does it matter now? So I'm a smuggler? Who cares? My supervisor's dead. The entire crew's dead. It doesn't matter now, does it?"

"Anything we can use against the Geth?" I asked with a grin.

"Some grenades from a shipment that came through last week. Nobody notices if a few small pieces go missing from the military orders," he explained.

"You greedy son of a bitch! We're out here trying to save your sorry ass and all you can think about is how you can rip us off?" Ash growled loudly.

"I never thought you'd actually need the grenades! Who'd want to attack Eden Prime? We're just a bunch of farmers! How was I supposed to know?" he defended.

"Williams! Calm down!" I ordered.

Ash paused. "You're lucky the Commander's here Powell. Hand over those grenades," she ordered.

And he did, claiming his smuggling days were over.

"You should have remembered that Eden Prime is on the edge of the Terminus Systems. That makes this place a perfect target for thieves and thugs," I reminded him.

"Oh, I guess you're right. Should've thought about that before. W-well, I better go," Powell said before he started off down another trail.

"Ok! Time to secure that beacon before those can openers do!" I said. A chorus of positive replies answered me and so we started for the cargo train.

We didn't get more than three steps before we ran into some more Geth. Ashley and Kali gunned the first one down and I weakened the next Geth trooper with a sniper bullet to the chest. Dawn and Jenkins finished it off with pistol fire.

I walked round a corner, and was startled when a bullet pinged off my kinetic shields. I scrambled back behind some cover, replaced my rifle with the Breaker Assault Rifle, rose up and blasted the Geth Trooper until it was dead.

"Phew, that was close," I muttered.

We then made our way down the catwalk and onto the cargo train. Geth Troopers were amassed along the whole length. "Dawn, Kaiden and Kali. You three move up the train. I'll cover you with sniper fire," I said through my headset. They nodded and began to move up, taking cover quickly.

The first contact was a Geth Destroyer. As Dawn and Kali distracted it with gunfire, Kaiden threw a couple of the liberated grenades at the advancing enemy to take down its shields. As this happened, I removed my Harpoon and lined up a headshot. As soon as the shields were down, I took the shot and blasted the head off, downing the Destroyer.

Next up was another Trooper that was hiding behind an energy shield. However part of his body was sticking out. Another well placed shot and the trooper was no more.

Meanwhile the others were slowly advancing up, ducking behind cover and killing off Geth before moving up again. I also started moving up and continued to snipe enemies from my position.

Another Destroyer loomed in front of us and the same strategy that was used against the first downed this one. After that all were left were troopers. I then got out my Breaker and joined the others, taking down the remaining Geth.

We all arrived at the controls and Kali activated the train which took us to the next stop. Five minutes later we arrived at the next station where the beacon was stored at. As soon as we got off, I noticed a large demolition charge nearby.

"Kali! Can you disarm that thing? We'll cover you," I asked.

"Sure thing boss," she agreed in her usual chipper tone and immediately got to work on it. She quickly took care of it and we moved to the next one. However now the Geth were firing on us. We dashed quickly to the next one and as Kali worked on it, the rest of us worked on removing the Geth from the area. We all concentrated on using our assault rifles and shotguns to kill off the closest Geth platforms, and then I concentrated of headshoting the remaining Geth in the distance. After another 5 minutes Kali had disabled the remaining two charges.

Then we moved down to where the beacon was and engaged the last remaining forces. Two Husks and two Geth Troopers. Dawn used her shotgun to great effect against the Husks with help from Kali and her Razer Pistol. Kaiden and I took care of the Troopers.

As we all took a deep breath, I took this chance to look at the beacon. It was simply a thin small spire of smooth light coloured metal, similar in height to the Husk spires used. It was emitting a light green beam of light from its tip, and green energy was glowing from openings in the sides of the beacon, but that was all.

I tapped my radio to connect with the Normandy, at the same time I kept an eye on Ashley. "Normandy, the beacon is secure. Requesting immediate evac," I reported in.

"Understood Commander," Joker replied. "Stand by for evac."

"Rodger, Normandy. Standing by," I finished up. I blinked as I saw Ashley not even move toward it. Neither Kali or Kaiden was either. Jenkins was currently sitting up against some boxes, taking a small rest. And Dawn was…

There was a sudden pulse from the beacon and I turned toward it to see Dawn being pulled in front of it.

"DAWN!" I cried out as I rushed past Kaiden and wrapped my arms around Dawn's waist. I threw her aside in time, but now I was in the beacon's grip. I was wrenched into the air and then I felt a massive amount of pain as information and images were downloaded into my mind. It was too fast. I couldn't process anything as the pain reached a peak. Then some sort of explosion happened and I was knocked unconscious.


	5. Chapter 5: The Aftermath

**Chapter 5: The Aftermath**

I could hear voices. Muffled voices. I couldn't tell what they were saying as I dragged my mind out of unconsciousness. I winced as I felt the massive headache that threatened to explode out of control.

"Doc! I think he's waking up! Josh? Josh, can you hear me?!" a female and very familiar voice called out to me.

"Ugh… not so loud Dawn… I swear I've got a headache straight from The Hangover so… shush…" I groaned as I opened my eyes, only for a bright light to be shined directly into them, increasing the pain tenfold. "Ahh! Damn woman! Watch where you're shining that thing!" I growled as I weakly tried to swat the light away.

"Hmm, well your eyes appear to be focusing," Chakwas replied.

"I'm sure they would've focused just fine without that evil contraption of yours thanks," I grumbled before a mass of red impacted my chest and light sobbing reached my ears.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry Josh," Dawn cried into my chest. I blinked before I griped her shoulders and pushed her away so I could look into her eyes. "Why are you sorry?" I asked in confusion.

"It's my fault you were drawn into that thing. I was drawn to it as well. I don't know why," she replied, but it was clear that we would talk about this later, with a bit more privacy.

"Hey, it's ok. I'm ok. Aside from the 'Nail-in-the-Head' headache I've got," I replied, taking a line from Jack O'Niel from Stargate SG-1.

"Well, you had us worried there Kitsuné. How are you feeling?" Dr Chakwas asked.

"You got a bottle and a half of aspirin?" I asked, only half joking.

She smiled and took a moment to rifle through her medical stores before coming back with two clear pills and a glass of water. "Here you go Commander. Should make that headache disappear soon."

"Thanks Doc," I replied as I placed the pills in my mouth before taking a swig of the water and swallowing the pills. "So how long was I out?"

"About fifteen hours. Something happened down there with the beacon, I think," she replied.

"That much I know. Damn thing nearly broke my brain trying to download that info into me," I replied, still feeling the after effects of the vision I had received from it.

"It downloaded information into you? Interesting. I don't think that's how Prothean beacons are supposed to work," the doc replied.

"We know almost next to nothing about the Protheans. Who's to say they couldn't develop tech that could transfer information and memories into another's mind?" Dawn questioned.

"True," Chakwas nodded thoughtfully. "Unfortunately we'll never know now."

"Let me guess. The explosion I felt just before I was knocked out was actually the beacon blowing up?" I asked. From her expression, I had guessed correctly. "Lovely…" I sighed before my tone turned sarcastic. "That's going to look good on my resume. Breaking a Prothean beacon."

"We don't even know if that's what set it off. Perhaps there was a power surge or something of the sort," the Doc continued, though it was obvious that she wasn't an electrician. "Anyways, physically you're fine. But I detected some unusual brain activity; abnormal beta waves."

"That's how you know someone is dreaming, right?" I asked.

"Yes, and from the readings, along with the increase of rapid eye movement, it must've been one hell of a dream."

"That's for damn sure," I replied as I closed my eyes to reflect on what had happened. After I was knocked out, the information I received from the beacon proceeded to replay slower in my mind. The information was all jumbled up, but I was able to tell that it was some sort of depiction of a massive war. Of course I already knew the exact context of the beacon's message, but if I explained that, it would raise some suspicious eyebrows.

"I'm pretty sure that it was about a massive galaxy wide war. There were death and destruction, and plenty of it," I replied.

"Well, I better add this to my report, it may- Oh, Captain Anderson," Dr Chakwas broke off as I turned to see the head honcho walk into the medlab.

"How's our XO holding up, Doctor?" he asked.

"The XO is perfectly fine answering questions about himself, Captain," I replied dryly. I hated it when people, especially girls, talked about me as if I wasn't standing right in front of them.

"Right, sorry," he replied sheepishly. Seemed like it was a problem for this universe's Josh as well.

"Well, all his readings are in the green. You'll be just fine Commander," Chakwas replied, her eyes flicking between the two of us.

"Well then, Kitsuné, I need to speak with you – in private," Anderson said.

"You know that Dawn will know everything I know one way or another," I replied. My partner and friend stood close beside me, letting the Captain know that it wasn't negotiable.

"I guess that's true," he nodded, indication that Dawn was allowed to stick around.

"I'll just step outside. Let me know when I can have my lab back," the Doc replied before she walked out of the room and the automatic doors hissed shut behind her.

"Sounds like that beacon hit you pretty hard there Josh. You sure you're ok?" he asked.

"Sure I'm sure. How's Jenkins doing?" I asked, hoping the kid didn't get killed on the way back.

"He's fine. Still shaken up a bit by Nihlus's death, but he'll get over it. Seeing a Spectre dead probably rearranged a few misconceptions he had about them," Anderson replied.

"I bet. Like realising that they're not invincible," I said.

"That's why I'm transferring him to a more easier post. Despite the fact that he's very skilled, he's also inexperienced. I guess I should have realised that I was putting him in the deep end," Anderson sighed.

"That's a good idea sir," I agreed with him. So did Dawn.

"So how does it look out there, Cap?" Dawn asked.

"I won't lie to you both. Things look bad. Nihlus is dead. The beacon was destroyed and geth are invading. The Council's going to want answers," Anderson gave us the lowdown.

"We didn't do anything wrong. Hopefully those blockheads on the council will see that," I replied, making it well known that I thought the members of the Council could be idiots at times.

"But I doubt it," Dawn added.

"Don't worry you two. I'll stand by you both and your report Kitsuné. You two are damned heroes in my books. But that's not why I'm here. It's Saren, that other turian. He's a Specter, one of the best; a living legend. But if he's working with the geth, it means that he's gone rogue," Anderson explained.

"Ohhh, the Council won't like the fact that one of their guys has gone loopy," I replied.

Anderson nodded. "Saren's dangerous. And he hates humans."

"Lovely," Dawn replied sarcastically.

"Well he thinks that we're growing too fast, taking over the galaxy," Anderson said.

"Well it's kinda true. We are expanding ourselves too fast. We're lucky that we weren't barred from getting a human representative to give us a voice to the Council thanks to the pissing contest we began with one of the Council races resulting in the First Contact War," I explained. I then realised that I was probably out of line. I lowered my head. "Sorry, Captain. I got too carried away."

"No, I happen to agree with you. Finding the Relay jumped our status in the galaxy more than we were ready for. But what's done is done. Now we just need to make the best of it," Anderson replied and I relaxed, glad that he felt that way.

"Anyway, most aliens don't do anything but grumble about our rapid growth. But Saren has allied with the geth. I don't know how. I don't know why. I only know it had something to do with that beacon. You were there just before the beacon self-destructed. Did you see anything? Any clue that might tell us what Saren was after?"

"Just before I was knocked out, I saw the massive amounts of information that was downloaded into my brain. Then while I was unconscious, the information slowed itself down enough for me to get a very faint idea on what it was. It was a vision of a massive galaxy wide war. Synthetics slaughtering people. Butchering them. I'm not entirely sure it was the geth either," I replied.

"We need to report this to the Council, Kitsuné," Anderson said.

"Do you really think the Council, in all their infinite wisdom, will believe Josh's vision?" Dawn asked incredulously.

"We don't know what information was stored in that beacon. Lost Prothean tech? Blueprints for some ancient weapon of mass destruction? Whatever it was, Saren took it," Anderson explained.

'I wonder if the Crucible plans were stored in there,' I absently wondered.

"But I know Saren and his reputation. He believes humans are a blight on the galaxy. This was an attack of war! He has the secrets from the beacon. He has an army of geth at his command and he won't stop until he's wiped humanity from the face of the galaxy!"

"Sound's like this may be slightly personal Captain, but we'll find Saren and take him shown. Just as soon as we find some way to throw him off the Specters group," I replied.

"As soon as we prove that Saren has gone rogue, the Council will have no choice but to revoke his Spectre status," Dawn added.

"That's a good plan. I'll contact the ambassador and see if he can get us an audience with the Council. He'll want to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel. We should be getting close. Head up to the ridge and tell Joker to bring us into dock," Anderson said.

"Rodger, Captain," I saluted with Dawn doing the same as he departed from the lab.

There was silence between us for a moment.

"So what's the real reason you were being dragged to the beacon," I asked.

"Well, I just didn't want you going through all that. You were the one that was picked for Spectre candidacy. I just didn't want you to burden yourself with the Prothean info as well," she replied with her head down.

I sighed before I moved closer to her and enveloped her in a hug. I felt her stiffen in my arms for a moment and I was about to retreat and apologise when I felt her relax against me. "Thanks Dawn, for trying to lighten my load, but I think I needed to do this myself. And no, it's not because Shepard did so. Just help me out in other ways like backing me up. Kay?" I asked.

"Sure I will," she replied into my shirt.

We then separated. I felt a little weak from the close contact I had just went through with Dawn. So I leaned up against the medbay bed I had been on before to steady myself. "So, who do you think Kali Daniels really is?" I asked.

"I have no idea. But there are bound to be some inconsistencies with the game setup we've played through. We should be cautious and keep an eye out for them," she replied.

"Good idea. We should go find out a little more about her then," I suggested. "If we're going to be working with her then we need to know what she's capable of."

* * *

><p>After exiting the medbay and assuring the sarcastic Doc that she could have her lab back, we looked around to see Ashley exactly where she usually was. But there was no sign of Daniels.<p>

"Hey Commander, Lieutenant," she greeted us as we walked over.

"Ashley… it's ok if we call you Ashley, right?" Dawn asked.

"Sure. That's ok with me. But I'm glad you're ok Commander. The crew could use some good news after what happened to Nihlus," she replied.

"While he only just signed up, he was still part of the crew, and a valued member too," I said.

"Did you know him well?"

I shook my head. "We had never met before today. But I know a few details about him. He was one of the most decorated current Spectre agents. He was also taught by Saren himself for a year before he was offered a position in the Spectres. He was ruthless when eradicating an obstacle from his path to finishing the mission. But unlike his mentor Saren, Nihlus saw the potential us humans had for the galaxy. Guess that's why he was the one to oversee my trials and assess my candidacy for the Spectres," I explained.

"You're joining the Spectres?" she asked.

"Not sure anymore. After his death and us accusing Saren going rogue, I reckon my candidacy is in trouble. The only way I'm gonna save face is if we prove Saren's involvement with the Eden Prime fiasco," I told her.

"So things went south quite quickly down there for you. How are ya holing up?" Dawn asked.

She sighed. "I've seen friends die before. Comes with being a marine. But to see almost my whole unit wiped out… And you never get used to seeing dead civilians. But things would've been a lot worse if you guys hadn't shown up," she answered shakily.

"You helped us out heaps too," Dawn reminded her with me nodding my agreement.

"Thanks Lieutenant. I have to admit, I was a little worried about being assigned to the Normandy. It's nice when people make you feel welcome," she replied.

"Ahh, you'll fit in just fine Ashley," I replied with a friendly grin.

"Thanks Commander," she returned the smile.

"Say, you wouldn't know what happened to Daniels, do you?" I asked.

"She was heading up to the Command level to check it out about 10 minutes ago," she replied.

"Cheers Ashley," I thanked as Dawn and I walked away and up the stairs.

Up above everything seemed to be in order. But there was no sign of Kali Daniels. I then froze as I remembered something.

"Wait a minute. We have no idea what she looks like. She kept up her visor the whole time we were groundside," I growled. "We only know the sound of her voice."

But fortune seemed to smile down on me as I heard an excited squeal from the cockpit. "That sounds like her," Dawn pointed out.

We hurried to where Joker was flying the ship and saw a female flittering about, looking at everything. We walked up to her and I asked, "Daniels?" tentatively. She turned around from looking out of the roof windows to look at me.

"Oh hi Commander! This is such a sweet ship you guys have!" she chirped cheerfully.

Kali Daniels was a slender but curvaceous blonde woman. Her hair was straight and shoulder length and she had slightly tanned skin. Bright hazel eyes that were still not entirely focused on me continued to look around the place. She seemed like a total airhead, but if it weren't for the previous encounter on Eden Prime and her focused demeanour then, I would have continued to think of her as just that, an airhead. She was currently wearing the typical crew clothing that the crew is seen rearing in Mass Effect 2, only without the Cerberus logos and it was coloured blue and purple.

"Thanks. We just wanted to get to know you better, that's all," Dawn said.

"You think you could move her out of here so I can get back to work? She's like a nerd in a video game store round here," Joker grumbled.

Dawn then smirked slyly and I gulped, knowing what that smirk meant. "Soooo, you're saying that you don't like it when a hot chick is taking an interest in your workspace?" she asked.

"Well… that's not what I… You see… It was just...," Joker spluttered as he tried to regain his composure. Kali then made it worse by bending down and wrapping her arms around Joker's chair and, by extension, himself. "You don't like me taking a look around?" she asked as she leaned her head over his shoulder.

Poor Joker was speechless, quite possibly for the first time since graduating from the Academy. I was quietly giggling and trying very hard not to go into full blown laughing mode. So was Dawn only she seemed to have less control than I did.

"Hahahahahahahahahaahahaha!" she cracked and doubled over in laughter. I then couldn't help myself and joined in.

"Oh Ha Ha! Very funny! Let's all make fun of the crippled pilot!" Joker grumbled.

'Ha! You just wait till you're introduced to EDI,' I thought as Dawn and I got our laughter under control with only a few chuckles and giggles escaping our lips.

"So! What do you want to know?" Kali asked.

"Just some backstory is all," I replied.

"Well…, I was born on Terra Nova. My parents weren't military, but I was quickly drawn to the life. I developed Biotic abilities and so I was sent to Jump Zero for BAaT." Here she looked away and I noticed a flash of pain in her eyes before she seemed to return to her normal bubbly self. "I was there a year before the program was shut down, so I didn't learn as much as some of the other kids who had been there for longer. After that I still wanted to enlist in the military and I did so. I took an interest in tech and showed a good aptitude for it. I'm good at fixing things and I get giddy when I see the latest tech. That's why I got a little carried away when having a look around," she finished off with a classic anime 'eyes closed and poking the tongue out' look. "I also finished my biotic training later when people knew more on the subject through a military taught class."

"Ok Kali, it's ok if I call you Kali?" I asked, to which she nodded happily. "Do you want to stick around with us?"

"Oh, your Captain already transferred me onto the crew. He saw how into mechanics I am and thought I would make a great addition to the crew. I gotta say, working on the most advanced ship in the Alliance is such an honour. I'm glad to be working with you two!" here she put out her hand and I shook it with Dawn doing the same.

"It's a pleasure to be working with you Kali," I said warmly.

"Pleasure's all mine, sir!" she replied.

"Yes yes, we're all so very glad you're with us(!) Now can I get back to flying this ship?" Joker asked sarcastically.

"What's wrong Joker? A pilot of your calibur can't fly and talk at the same time?" I asked with faux surprise.

"No, but Blondie here is getting on my nerves," he replied.

"Oh you know you love me!" Kali replied with a cheeky grin and a wink, which he caught. He then turned around in his seat, grumbling under his breath. "I'm taking us through the relay now," he announced through the ship's intercom to the crew.

"Really? I've never seen the Citadel before," Kali replied.

"Me neither," said a voice and we turned to see Ash and Kaiden walking into the cockpit.

"Hey Kaiden. How's it going?" I asked.

"Bit of a headache, nothing major," he replied with a smile.

"Take it easy for a bit then," I suggested.

"Sure think Commander," he nodded.

"Good timing you two, I was just about to bring us into the Citadel. See that taxpayer money at work," Joker said as he jumped the ship through the Relay to the other side. We appeared on the other side, but the ship was quickly swamped with light purple and blue gas clouds. For several moments we couldn't see anything, except for a few glimpses every now and then. Then the Citadel was shown in all her glory as a supermassive structure made up of five giant arms attached to a circle at the end. It looked like a giant flower with each of the long petals a large city in its own right. The Normandy then took a right turn and started bringing us in toward the structure.

"Look at the size of that ship!" Ashley gasped as we passed a simply enormous ship. Kali looked very interested in it as well.

"The Ascension. Flagship of the Citadel fleet," Kaiden noted. It sure was an impressive sight. Looking like a massive cross with a large cone in the front.

"Well size isn't everything," Joker scoffed.

"Why so touchy Joker?" Kali giggled.

"I'm just saying, you need firepower too," he replied.

"Uhh, take a look at her main weapon. I'm pretty sure she could cut through anything we have in our fleets," Dawn observed.

"Good thing it's on our side then," Kaiden replied, looking relieved that it was.

"Citadel Control, this is SSV Normandy requesting permission to land," Joker asked through the radio.

"Stand by for clearance, Normandy," was the near instantaneous reply.

"We're not going to be put on hold, are we?" I asked. I needn't have feared though because as soon as I said that the voice came back to us. "Clearance granted. You may begin your approach. Transferring you to an Alliance operator."

"Rodger Alliance Tower. Normandy out," Joker replied as he headed for the Presidium Ring.

"Normandy, this is Alliance Tower," a new voice announced. "Please proceed to dock 422."

The Normandy, with Joker piloting, easily pulled into the dock and settled for the docking clamps to latch on to the ship.


	6. Chapter 6: The Hunt for Justice Part 1

**Chapter 6: The Hunt for Justice Part 1**

I found myself on the Presidium Ring, where all the rich and important lived. All the higher ups and whatnot. There was a lake and trees and sky and clouds and everything. It was a nice view, but I preferred the view from my apartment in the Zakera wards.

I and my team were relaxing on the balcony that belonged to the office of the Human Alliance Ambassador. The current Ambassador was Donnel Udina, a crafty politician to be sure. He refused to rock the boat if it there was a chance it would endanger his standing—and therefore humanity's—with the Citadel Council. He was currently yelling at the Council. It might have been a rather entertaining scene if the subject wasn't so serious.

"This is an outrage! The Council would step in if the geth attacked a turian colony!" the Ambassador argued over the newest topic, the geth assault on Eden Prime.

"The turians don't found colonies on the borders of the Terminus Systems, Ambassador," the Salarian Councillor countered and it was a good one. What he said was true. Eden Prime was smack dab up against the inside of the border of the Terminus Systems, where illegal activities, particularly piracy and the slave trade, flourished. The Terminus Systems were independent from the Citadel Council and so there was no common government to hold off the raids on less protected worlds and colonies.

"Humanity was well aware of the risks when you went into the Traverse," the Asari Councillor added her little reminder.

"What about Saren? You can't just ignore a rogue Spectre. I demand action!" Udina raged.

"You don't get to make demands of the Council, Ambassador," the Turian Councillor replied coldly.

"Citadel Security is investigating your charges against Saren. We will discuss the C-Sec findings at the hearing, not before," the Asari Councillor finished up before the transmission was cut on their end.

"Show's over," Dawn muttered to me, making me smile in reply.

"Captain Anderson," Udina greeted coldly. "I see you brought half your crew with you."

"Just the ground team from Eden Prime. In case you had any questions," replied Anderson coolly.

"I have the mission reports. I assume they're accurate?" the politician asked.

"They are. Sounds like you convinced the Council to give us an audience," the Captain gathered.

"I wonder how much his mouth smells of ass from the amount of ass kissing he had to do for that to happen," I heard Dawn ask Kaiden, who snorted once before going into a fit of coughing.

Udina glanced at the two Lieutenants for a moment before directing his attention back to Anderson and me. "They were not happy about it. Saren's their top agent. They don't like him being accused of treason."

"I can imagine. But Saren's a threat to every human colony out there. He needs to be stopped. Hopefully the Council will see that," I said, making sure to not get carried away like Shepard did on this line.

Udina glared at me. "The mission on Eden Prime was a chance to prove you could get the job done. Instead, Nihlus ended up dead and the beacon was destroyed!" he growled.

"Hey! That wasn't my fault!" I cried out in protest. 'Even though it kinda was,' I added in my mind. If I had ordered everyone to stay away from the beacon, it wouldn't have been destroyed. Maybe. But it needed to happen.

"It was Saren's!" Anderson defended me.

"Then we better hope the C-Sec investigation turns up evidence to support our accusations. Otherwise the Council might use this as an excuse to keep you out of the Spectres," Udina explained. "Come with me Captain. I want to go over a few things before the hearing." He then turned back to me. "Kitsuné, you and the others can meet us at the Citadel Tower. Top level. I'll make sure you have the clearance to get in." He and the Captain then left to a side room to speak privately.

"And that's why I hate politicians," Ash muttered.

"Lovely folks, aren't they?" Kali smiled. She now had her helmet tucked away in her armour like the rest of us did, showing her face and all the expressions that came with it.

We made our way out of the office and into the main lobby for the Embassies. The asari receptionist looked a little tired and stressed out over her work. Being in her line of work was quite busy so I didn't blame her.

So we passed by her and the VI Avina to take a cab to the Citadel Tower. When we got there we saw two turians arguing over something. I knew one was Garrus and the other one was Garrus's superior and head of C-Sec, Executor Pallin.

I almost squealed in happiness at seeing Garrus for the first time since this whole thing started Dawn and I shared a look and I knew that she felt the same way. So we composed ourselves and walked over to them.

"Saren's hiding something! Give me some more time. Stall them. Something!" Garrus pleaded to Pallin.

"Stall the Council? Don't be ridiculous! Your investigation is over, Garrus," Pallin replied sternly. He then walked away leaving Garrus to notice us.

"Commander Kitsuné? Garrus Vakarian. I was the officer in charge of the C-Sec investigation into Saren," he introduced as he walked over.

"Sounds like Saren got under your skin too," I noticed.

"I don't trust him. Something about him rubs me the wrong way. But he's a Spectre; everything he touches is classified. I can't find any hard evidence," he replied.

"Sucks to be sure," I sympathised.

"I think the Council is ready for us Commander," Kaiden butted in.

"Yeah yeah…" I sighed before holding out my hand. "Why don't we talk over drinks sometime?" I offered.

Garrus looked at the offered hand before shaking it himself. "That'd be nice Commander," he agreed. We then parted ways with Dawn saying, "See you later," to him.

We made our way around the fountain, up the stairs, through the gardens and up more stairs to meet Anderson, who was waiting for us.

"Come on you two," he said, meaning Dawn and I. "The hearing has already started."

I looked up to see that it had indeed. I saw Saren's hologram towering over all of us. "Is there any real reason to have it that big?" I whispered to Dawn who made to giggle, but remembered where we were.

"The geth attack is a matter of some concern. But there is nothing to indicate Saren was involved in any way," the Asari Councillor noted.

"The investigation by Citadel Security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason," the Turian Councillor spoke next.

"An eyewitness saw him kill Nihlus in cold blood!" Udina argued.

"We've read the Eden Prime reports, Ambassador. The testimony of one traumatized dockworker is hardly compelling proof," replied the Salarian Councillor.

"I resent these accusations. Nihlus was a fellow Spectre. And a friend," Saren's voice filtered through the speakers with a cyborg undertone.

"That just let you catch him off guard!" Anderson growled.

"Captain Anderson. You always seem to be involved when humanity makes false charges against me," Saren sneered. He then turned to me. "And these must be your protégés, Commander Kitsuné and Lieutenant Kissane. The ones who let the beacon get destroyed."

"And how would you know about the beacon? The mission was top secret. If you knew about it then you must've been there yourself," I replied calmly.

"With Nilus gone, his files passed on to me. I read the Eden Prime report. I was unimpressed. But what can you expect, from a human," he replied scornfully.

"Insults? Really?" I sighed. "I'm here being nice, civil and polite while you throw insults to my face like a child trying to bully his way out of trouble." This got a reaction out of Saren as he growled. "Saren's hatred for humans was why he attacked Eden Prime."

"Your species needs to learn its place, Kitsuné. You're not ready to join the Council. You're not even ready to join the Spectres!" Saren spat back.

"He has no right to say that! That's not his decision!" Udina almost yelled.

"Udina, its ok," I tried to placate him. I turned back to the Council. "You may be right Saren. We may be pushing too hard for a place on the Council and that we should learn to be patient. But that's not my call to make."

"Kitsuné's admission into the Spectres is not the purpose of this meeting," the Asari Councillor said to the Saren projection.

"This meeting has no purpose. The humans are wasting your time, Councillor. And mine," Saren replied.

"Councillors! Please. Give me one day to find the evidence I need to prove our accusations. If I do not come up with sufficient proof, then I will withdraw my application to the Spectres," I pleaded.

There was silence as the Councillors debated silently amongst themselves for a moment. The Asari Councillor then turned back to me. "Very well Commander Kitsuné. You have 24 hours to gather up your evidence. However until then, Ambassador, your petition to have Saren disbarred from the Spectres is denied."

I sighed in relief, glad the Council was at least willing to give me a chance.

"I suppose that's good enough. I'm glad to see justice was served," Saren leered at me before the hologram disappeared.

"This meeting is adjourned," the Asari finished off.

"It was a mistake bringing you into that hearing, Captain. You and Saren have too much history. It made the Council question our motives," Udina glared at Anderson.

"I know Saren. He's working with the geth for one reason: to exterminate the entire human race," Anderson replied stubbornly. "Every colony we have is at risk. Every world we control is in danger. Even Earth isn't safe."

"I think there's something more going on here than we know. Why would the geth take a sudden interest in what Saren, an organic, would want? How did he convince synthetic beings? He would need a very compelling argument to win over AIs," I noted.

"We need to focus on kicking Saren out of the Spectres first," Dawn reminded me.

"Right," I nodded. "We need to find some way of exposing him, and we've only got a day."

"We could talk to Garrus. He might have something on Saren, or at least, he was close to a breakthrough," Dawn suggested to me, keeping up the act that we were figuring out this on the spot.

"Hey Udina, any chance you could get one of your contacts to help us track down Garrus?" I asked.

"Yes, I have one in C-Sec who can help you. His name is Harkin," he replied and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Forget it. They suspended Harkin last month for drinking on the job. I won't waste my time with that loser," Anderson disagreed.

"Well loser or not, he's our best bet to finding Garrus," I replied. "Let us handle the jackass, sir."

"That's probably a good idea. My past with Saren will just complicate things," Anderson relented.

"I need to take care of some business. Captain, meet me in my office later," Udina said before he left us.

"Try Chora's Den, Josh. Harkin's probably getting drunk there. It's a dingy little club in the lower section of the wards," Anderson suggested.

"Any other leads perhaps?" Dawn asked.

"You should talk to Barla Von. Over in the financial district. Rumour has it he's working for the Shadow Broker," Anderson explained.

"The Shadow Broker?" Ask asked curiously.

"He's probably the best Information Broker in the galaxy. He buys and sells secrets to the highest bidder," I explained.

"I heard that Barla Von's one of the top representatives. He might know something about Saren. But his information won't come cheap," Anderson added.

"Well, we'd better get moving ourselves. We're on the clock after all," I said.

"Good luck Kitsuné. I'll be in the Ambassadors office if you need me," Anderson replied before he walked off.

"So, where to first?" Kali asked.

* * *

><p>The two taxis we ordered landed outside of Chora's Den. I knew we were walking into an ambush so I readied my Sniper Rifle while Dawn grabbed her Shotgun.<p>

"What's going on Commander?" Kaiden asked.

"I've got a funny feeling that we're going to get shot at as soon as we enter there," I replied. "Better safe than sorry, right?"

"I guess that's true," Ash replied as she readied her own Assault Rifle. With the others doing the same with their weapons of choice.

As soon as we entered the first room, I heard, "That's him," and I shot forward and took cover behind the guard rail. The sound of gunfire blasted through the room as the assassins tried to kill me. The others put up some covering fire, forcing the attackers to duck down. I raised my rifle and popped a round into the closest guy, a turian, but the bullet pinged off his shield.

"Shit!" I cursed as I saw him make his way to the bridge. I then had an idea. I waited until the guy was half way across the bridge before I threw a grenade with a one second fuse that stuck to the ground right next to the guy. The explosion went off and sent the guy into the air and over the rail.

The last guy came at me but with a biotic attack from Dawn throwing the second turian down and his shields gone; I put a sniper round into his head as he recovered.

"Saren's men, I bet," I grumbled. "Already trying to make sure we die so as not to uncover evidence against him." We then made our way to the club and entered.

Inside there were barely dressed asari dancers with the patrons either busy ogling the dancers or drinking. I was having a hard time keeping my eyes off the dancers myself. I was very thankful that I was wearing armour pants as my growing hard on was sure to be noticed in normal pants.

"A million light years from where humanity began and we walk into a bar filled with men drooling over half naked women shaking their asses on a stage. I can't decide if that's funny or sad," Ashley sighed.

"I suggest going with funny. Laughter's better for you," I replied as I scanned for where Harkin was and made sure not to scan every curve of the closest dancer.

"What? You don't think they're here because of the food?" Kaiden joked.

"Not funny Kaiden," Dawn punched him lightly in the side.

We made our way to the back of the room when I heard a name that caused me to swivel around.

"Back off, Wrex. Fist told us to take you down if you showed up," a krogan bouncer growled at a larger krogan.

'Wow! It's Wrex!' I thought as I continued to listen in with Dawn next to me.

"What are you waiting for? I'm standing right here," Wrex replied confidently. "This is Fist's only chance. If he's smart, he'll take it."

"He's not coming out, Wrex. End of story," the bouncer replied with a note of finality.

"This story is just beginning," Wrex replied. But he backed off. "Out of my way humans. I have no quarrel with you," he said as he brushed past me.

"What was that all about?" Kaiden asked.

"Who knows? Let's just try not to get caught in the middle," Ash suggested.

"Can I go get a drink?" Kali asked.

"Sure, just be ready to leave soon. I don't think we'll be staying here for long," I replied.

"Yep!" she replied before she almost literally bounced over to the bar.

I sighed, wondering what went on in that woman's head. Serious when it counted and bubbly happy-go-lucky every other time.

I then spotted Harkin and we walked over. He looked at us, bleary eyed, and smirked. "Alliance military. Hmph. I coulda been a marine you know. Instead I joined the goddamned Citadel Security. Biggest mistake of my life." He then looked at my companions and I clenched my fist when he started leering at Dawn. "Well hello there beautiful. What say you and I get a little private booth somewhere?"

In a split second I had drawn Oblivion and pressed it against his forehead. "You touch even a hair on my friend, and I won't have second thoughts about painting the wall behind you with your brains," I growled lowly, but the threat still found its way into his ears over the loud music.

He put his hands up. "Ok, ok! Geez… she yours or somethin'?" he asked as I withdrew my gun.

"No, but she doesn't want a scum bucket like you drooling over her," I replied.

"Well, is there a reason you're here? Other than the entertainment, that is," Harkin grinned lecherously.

"I was told you could help me find someone. A turian C-Sec officer named Garrus," I asked.

"Garrus? Ha! You all must be part of Captain Anderson's crew. Poor bastard's still trying to bring Saren down, eh? Well I know where he is. But you gotta tell me something first. Did the Captain let you in on his big secret?" he asked.

"We don't need to know the man's past to know he's a good man. We'll just leave it at that," Dawn replied.

"Oh, but you'll love this. The Captain used to be a Spectre. Didn't know that, did you? It was all very hush-hush. The first human ever given that honour. And he blew it. Screwed up his mission so bad they kicked him out. Of course, he blames Saren. Said the turian set him up." I could tell Harkin was loving the feeling of spreading around the Captain's past.

"Just tell me where Garrus went," I repeated.

"He was sniffing around Dr. Michel's office. She run's the med clinic on the other side of the wards. Last I heard, he was going back there," he explained.

"How do you know Captain Anderson?" Kaiden asked.

"I met him a few times over the years. One of those hard-core military guys," he explained. He then changed his voice slightly. "Yes, sir! No, sir! Can't have any fun with a stick up your ass, sir!" I was tempted to laugh at this as I agreed with him, to a certain point. People needed to loosen up sometimes. Of course, the kind of fun Harkin was probably talking about, none of us wanted any part of.

"That's probably why he climbed the Alliance ranks so fast. The military loves brown-nosers," Harkin finished up.

"The Captain is a good soldier! He earned all his commendations!" Kaiden replied heatedly.

"Sure, whatever. Dress him up, pin some shiny medals on his chest and call him a hero. Everybody else does. But if he's so great, why'd the Spectres kick him out? Why don't you go ask him about that?" Harkin asked.

Kaiden fell silent at that, but Ashley picked up the slack for him. "You need to look in a mirror. Take some responsibility for yourself," she scorned at the man who was on his way to blacking out from all the drinking.

"Save you sermons, sister. This ain't no church," he scoffed.

"Hey guys! How's it going?" Kali asked as she walked over to where we were standing, drink in hand.

"We were just getting Harkin to tell us where Garrus is," I replied.

"Oh, cool," she replied.

"Mmm, ain't you one hot looking gal. Why don't you and me-" Harkin began.

"Not interested," she replied with a smile.

"Shit!" Harkin swore under his breath, but we all still heard him. "Why is it all the sexy ones are taken or are not interested?"

"So what can you tell us about Garrus? I'm kinda curious," Kali asked.

"Damn hothead is what he is. Still figures he can save the world. Always bucking heads with the executor. He'll pay for it soon enough. The executor loves to put us lowly field agents in our place. Just look what happened to me!" Harkin complained.

"I think you're a special case," I smirked.

"Bah! Get outta here. Let me drink in peace without being harassed," he grumbled.

"Sounds like a great idea," I replied and we left the club. I almost sat down at an empty seat that had an asari dancer in front of it, but Dawn simply grabbed my arm and hauled me out with me protesting all the way.

"I wasn't really going to sit down!" I argued as we left the club with her still gripping my arm.

"I highly doubt that," she scoffed.

"But why didn't Captain Anderson tell us he used to be a Spectre?" Ashley asked, tactfully changing the subject.

"Harkin's an ass. I bet he's just messing with our heads," Kaiden replied, still a bit angry for what the aforementioned ass had said about the Captain.

"No matter what the answer is, it doesn't matter," I said. "A man's past is his own and if he wants to share it with us, it's his business. We'll mention Harkin said it, but we'll also tell him that he doesn't need to confirm or deny anything to us."

"I guess… I guess you're right, Commander," Ashley replied.

* * *

><p>Our next destination was the Medical Centre in the Wards. We were straight away alerted to a scuffle behind the nearest door. I took out my handguns with Dawn doing the same. Kaiden, Kali and Ashley took out their assault rifles. We then entered the room.<p>

We came across a sight of a turian, Garrus, crouched low and moving to some cover. "I didn't tell anyone. I swear!" I woman with a light Russian accent called out in fear. We looked over to see a female doctor with mahogany brown hair and green eyes being threatened by three human thugs.

"That was smart, Doc," one of them said. "Now if Garrus comes around, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut or we'll-" he broke off as the thug spotted us. He then grabbed the woman and pointed his pistol at me, as Oblivion was pointed at him. "Who are you?" he yelled out.

I turned my eyes to Garrus and caught his eyes before I returned them to the Thug. "Let her go!" I called back.

Garrus took the opening I have him to put a bullet into the side of the Thug's head. In turn Dawn and I fired a single shot each and killed the next two thugs with head shots. Kali and Ashley rounded the corner and they gunned down the last two thugs easily. We then regrouped where Garrus and the doctor were.

"Perfect timing, Kitsuné. Gave me a clear shot at that bastard," Garrus thanked.

"That was a very nice shot, but next time, try to scope out the situation a bit more. We were lucky that he didn't know you were here and that his focus was on us. Next time you might get the hostage killed," I replied.

"Y-You're right. I just reacted. I didn't mean to—," he broke off to turn to the woman. "Dr. Michel? Are you hurt?" he asked anxiously.

"No, I'm ok. Thanks to you. All of you," she replied. She sounded a bit shaken, but otherwise she was unharmed.

"So who were those guys?" Kali asked, in her serious mode.

"They work for Fist. They wanted to shut me up, keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian," she replied.

'Tali! Yaaay!' I mentally squealed like a fan-boy.

"Does this have anything to do with the investigation into Saren by any chance?" Dawn asked, but I could tell she was just as excited about meeting Tali.

"I think it might. Dr. Michel, tell us what happened," Garrus asked.

"Well, a few days ago, a quarian came by my office. She'd been shot, but she wouldn't tell me who did it. I could tell she was scared, probably on the run. She asked me about the Shadow Broker. She wanted to trade information in exchange for a safe place to hide," she explained.

"There's that name again. Seriously, how powerful is this guy?" Ashley asked.

"Not now Williams," Kaiden whispered to her.

"Do you know where she is now?" I asked.

"I put her in contact with Fist. He's an agent for the Shadow Broker," she replied.

"Well I think that plan has gone to shit," I said. "Something tells me his allegiance has changed recently."

"You're right. His new master is Saren, and the Shadow Broker isn't too happy about it," Garrus replied.

"Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker? That's stupid, even for him. Saren must've made him quite the offer," the doctor said in surprise.

"He could have threatened to chop his balls and penis off. That always gets a man to change his ways. Or money," Dawn theorized. Kaiden and I took a step away from her.

"That quarian must have something Saren wants. Something worth crossing the Shadow Broker to get," Garrus said.

"Anything else you can tell us about her?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. Like I said, she wanted to trade information for a place to hide. She didn't… wait a minute!" she gasped. "Geth! Her information had something to do with the geth!"

"Maybe she's able to link Saren to the geth. This may be the evidence we've been looking for," I grinned.

"Time to pay Fist a visit," Kali grinned herself while punching her own fist into the palm of her opposite hand.

"That was a horrible pun," Dawn sighed.

"What? I thought it was quite clever," she protested.

"Umm," Garrus began, but hesitated.

"What's up Garrus?" I asked.

Garrus paused for a moment before continuing. "This is your show, Kitsuné. But I want to bring down Saren as much as you do. I'm coming with you," he said with a look in his eyes that told me he wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Any reason you hate Saren? He is one of you," Ashley asked with suspicion clear in her tone.

"I couldn't find the proof in my investigation. But I knew what was really going on. Saren's a traitor to the Council, and a disgrace to my people!" Garrus replied angrily, but his anger wasn't directed at us.

"Well I was going to say yes anyways. You're a good shot, Garrus. I'd be proud to have you help us bring this lump of turian turd to justice," I grinned as I stuck out my hand.

Garrus laughed as he grasped my hand. "I would be glad to. You know, we aren't the only ones going after Fist. The Shadow Broker hired a krogan bounty hunter named Wrex to take him out."

"We met in passing while trying to find you," I replied. "I reckon he'll let us get the info before killing him. And besides, a krogan would come in handy."

"Well, last I heard, he was at the C-Sec Academy," Garrus supplied.

"The hell's he doing there?" Kaiden asked.

"Fist accused him of making threats. We brought in Wrex for a little talk. If we hurry, we can catch him at the academy before he leaves," Garrus explained.

"Alright. Let's go do this!" I said enthusiastically.

* * *

><p>Omake: What Kind of Hours?<p>

There was silence as the Councillors debated silently amongst themselves for a moment. The Asari Councillor then turned back to me. "Very well Commander Kitsuné. You have 24 hours to gather up your evidence. However until then, Ambassador, your petition to have Saren disbarred from the Spectres is denied."

I grinned. "Awesome! So is that in Earth hours, Thessia hours, Paladen hours, what?"

* * *

><p>(AN: Forgot to mention this before but the OC Kali Daniels belongs to Reyvateil Songstress)<p> 


	7. Chapter 7: The Hunt for Justice Part 2

**Chapter 7: The Hunt for Justice Part 2**

"Commander Kitsuné? Excuse me, Commander Kitsuné!"

"Huh?" I looked around to see a black haired woman waving at me frantically to get my attention. We walked over to see what she wanted.

"Yeah?" I asked her.

"I'm Emily Wong. I'm an investigative journalist working here on the Citadel. Could I have a moment of your time?" she asked.

"I'm in a bit of a hurry, but sure, ok. What do you need?" I asked.

"I've been hunting for evidence of corruption and organized crime on the Citadel, but there are places I can't go. I was hoping you might share anything you might find during your own investigation. I can make it worth your time," she explained.

"I'm sure you have better contacts than me," I replied.

"Well I'm using all of my contacts, but I think I can get results with you," she said. "You and your partner are the heroes of the Skillian Blitz where you held off a massive batarian raid. If anyone can find the worst elements of the Citadel and live to tell about it, it's you two."

"Ok then. We'll keep our ears to the ground while we're here," I promised.

"Thank you, Commander. You won't regret it," she thanked before walking off.

"You think we'll find anything?" Ashley asked.

"Every planet has a criminal underworld, even the Citadel. I'm sure something will come up," I replied.

* * *

><p>We found ourselves back at Chora's Den. This time there were no assassins waiting for us, but I knew that the fight would be happening in the bar this time. So I readied my handguns with Dawn on her Shotgun. This time, the others didn't question my actions and simply followed suit. I crouched next to the door and motioned to Kali to hack the security lock on the door with her Omnitool. After several seconds the door slid open and a barrage of bullets exploded through a millisecond later. It was a good thing that Kali had accessed the system from behind cover or she would've been torn to shreds.<p>

"Thanks for the save Commander," she thanked.

"No problems Kali," I replied before I rolled to the side at the first break in the wall of bullets and shot the first guy I saw dead. I then moved in and to the right with Kaiden at my side and Dawn and Garrus taking the left of the ring like bar setup.

We worked through the enemies very quickly with this strategy and soon we were on the other side of the room where the back rooms were located.

"So what's the plan, Commander?" Garrus asked.

"Kill the dragon, save the girl and get the hell outta here," I replied before Dawn bonked me on the head with her hand. "Joking… I'll take point." I then opened the door and raised my handguns at two workers aiming their pistols at me.

"Stop right there! Don't come any closer!" one of them yelled.

"I think we killed all the real guards. These guys must be warehouse workers," Garrus said.

"Stay back or we'll shoot!" the second one ordered.

I put my guns away. "I think this would be the perfect opportunity to find some new work," I suggested.

The two looked at each other before they lowered their weapons. "Yeah. Yeah, right. That's a good idea," the first one agreed.

"I never liked Fist anyway," the second one added as the two left the club.

"I can't believe that worked," Ashley replied, shocked at our fortune.

"Always try diplomacy first," I replied.

We continued on until we heard a voice. "Why do I have to do everything myself? Time to die, little soldiers!"

"That'd be Fist I believe," Garrus noted.

"He'll have some sort of automated defence system, I reckon. I'll dash to the other side and we take out the turrets. We do that, and I believe Fist will be broken," I replied as I took out my sniper rifle, Garrus doing the same. I then dashed over to the other side of the opening with machine gun fire following me. I then poked around the side and fired off a round into the turret. It spluttered briefly but soon continued to fire at me. As I waited for my rifle to cool down I saw Garrus fire a round into the same turret and watched as it exploded. We repeated the process on the second turret and then we infiltrated the room.

"Wait! Don't kill me! I surrender!" Fist pleaded me as we ganged up on him.

"Good answer," I said as I pointed Oblivion at his head. "Now, do you like games?"

"W-what?" he asked.

"It's a very simple question. Do you like games?" I repeated in a civil manner.

"Uhh… y-yeah?" he replied, frightened and confused.

"Good. We're going to play a game. I ask a question, and you answer. If you tell the truth, then we're good. But if you tell me a lie, then we're not good. Simple rules, right?" I asked, still using the creepy civil tone.

"S-sure," Fist replied, nodding his head.

"Ok. First question, where's the quarian?"

"She's not here. I don't know where she is. That's the truth!" Fist replied.

"Wrong answer," I replied as I took aim and shot Fist's right kneecap. His screams echoed through the club for a minute before he had calmed down enough to hear me again. "I forgot to mention that white lies are the same as full lies in this game. I know she isn't here. But you know where she is, don't you?"

"Argh! Shit! Ok! I told her I'd setup a meeting between her and the Shadow Broker since she said she would only deal with the Broker in person. But no-body meets the Shadow Broker. Ever. So the meeting is rigged. Saren's men will ambush her as soon as she gives up the info to a fake Shadow Broker," Fist panted as blood seeped through the wound.

Dawn then joined in by drawing Ebony and pointing it at Fist's package. "Give us the location, now!" she asked with a smile, but you knew that smile was like trying to cover up a freshly bloodstained dead body with a white bed sheet. Everyone knew what it was covering up.

"Ok! Ok! I'll tell you, just don't do that! The location is here on the Wards. The back alley by the markets. She's supposed to meet them right now. You can make it if you hurry!" Fist yelled fearfully.

"Alright, let's go get her," I ordered.

"Wait! What about me?" Fist asked.

"What about you?" I asked in a bored tone.

"I'm free to go, right?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure, you can go," I replied uncaringly.

"Thank you. You'll never see me again, I swear. I'm a ghost," I promised before he limped painfully away.

"Ohh? What's this?" I asked myself as I bent down and picked up an optical storage disk that was on the ground.

"What's that?" Kaiden asked.

"With any luck, the proof Emily Wong needs for her story to be successful," I replied as I pocketed it. "C'mon guys. We have only a small window before we're too late!" We then ran out of the club, picking off the reinforcements that had taken root in the club's main room, and exited Chora's Den. We took a left and climbed up a set of stairs, past a door, up some more stairs and I saw the exchange in front of me. I halted and whispered to my friends, "Set yourselves up in good positions. Don't engage until I say so." I got a round of nods and we moved forward silently. As soon as I found some cover behind a box I poked my head around and watched the scene.

"Did you bring it?" a turian assassin asked as he walked up to Tali.

"Where's the Shadow Broker? Where's Fist?" she asked, uncertainty seeping into her tone.

"They'll be here," the assassin assured her as he brushed his hand against her head. The hand drifted south down her left arm. "Where's the evidence?"

Tali slapped the hand away. "No way. The deal's off," she replied as two salarian assassins crept up behind her. The turian looked at them briefly but that was enough for Tali as she dashed for cover, flinging a grenade at the salarians.

"Go go go!" I yelled as I rose up with my sniper rifle and quick scoped the turian, unleashing a round to his skull. After that, Dawn and the others gunned down the salarians, killing them quickly. We then walked over to Tali.

"Are you ok? And injuries?" I asked.

"I'm ok. Fist set me up! I knew I couldn't trust him!" she growled angrily. "I know how to look after myself. Not that I don't appreciate the help. Who are you?" she asked in a gentler tone.

"My name is Josh Kitsuné. This is Dawn Kissane, Kaiden Alenko, Garrus Vakarian, Ashley Williams and Kali Daniels. I've been looking for evidence to prove Saren's a traitor," I introduced and explained.

"Then I have a chance to repay you for saving my life. But not here. Do you have somewhere safe where we can talk more freely?" she asked.

"I have just the place," I nodded.

* * *

><p>A taxi ride later and we all were sitting comfortably on couches and chairs at Dawn and I's apartment.<p>

"You didn't tell me you had an apartment here," Kaiden said as he looked around.

"You never asked," Dawn replied.

"Ok, you got me. It's a nice place though," he smiled sheepishly.

"Fantastic views," Ashley added as she gazed out of the window.

"It is nice," I agreed as I pressed a button to light the fire.

"It's a little minimalistic for my tastes," Kali said before she caught site of the PSPs and PSP Vitas on the glass table. "What are those things?" she asked.

"They're PlayStation Portables. They were popular handheld gaming consoles in the early 2000's," I replied.

"Wow! I know some guys who are loaded who would pay a ton of cash for these things. They're in such good condition too," Kaiden said as he picked one of them up.

"Maybe you can introduce us to them. We were thinking of selling them to get ourselves a hefty transaction of credits," Dawn asked.

"Sure," he nodded.

There was a soft ding and I turned to the lift door. "That'll be our other two guests," I noted as I went over to greet them. It was Udina and Anderson.

"Sorry I called you here, but I don't trust your office to be bug free," I apologised.

"You're not making my life easy, Kitsuné," Udina grunted. "Firefights in the wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den? Do you know how many-" he broke off when he saw the two aliens. "Who are they? A turian and a quarian? What are you up to, Kitsuné?"

"Just getting the evidence we need to go after Saren, Ambassador," I assured.

"Really?" the Ambassador's attitude did almost a 180. "Maybe you better start at the beginning, Miss…?"

"My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," the quarian introduced.

"We don't see many quarians here. Why did you leave the flotilla?" Udina asked.

"Probably because she's on her pilgrimage," I interrupted. Tali's head whipped to look at me. "Yes, that's right. But how did you know?"

"I'm interested in quarian history and traditions, but most are a little tight lipped to tell an outsider like myself much. I've learned that when quarians of the Migrant Fleet reach young adulthood, they must leave their birth ship and find a new crew to accept them as permanent residents. To prove themselves worthy, they must leave the Migrant Fleet and search the galaxy for something of value, whether it be a ship, or an important piece of tech the quarians can reverse engineer to use. This is offered to their prospective captain as a gift, proving that they will not be a mere burden on the crew and the resources.

The quarians used to use this as a 'Coming of Age' trial of sorts, but now it's merely an attempt to maintain genetic diversity within the small, relatively isolated population bases that make up the Migrant Fleet.

The Pilgrimage also gives quarians the chance to experience life outside the Migrant Fleet, to help them appreciate their people and culture. For many it is their only opportunity to leave, as once they return their skills will become invaluable in preserving the quarian race aboard the Fleet. Am I right?" I asked Tali.

"Yes… yes, you are correct," she replied, not bothering to conceal the surprise from her voice. "Your knowledge about the Pilgrimage is impressive."

"But I think we're getting a little off topic here," Dawn reminded everyone.

"Right, sorry," I apologised.

"So yes, I was on my Pilgrimage and during my travels, I began to hear reports of geth. Since they drove my people into exile, the geth have never ventured beyond the Veil. I was curious as to what could've changed. So I tracked a patrol of geth to an uncharted world. I waited for one to become separate from its unit. Then I disabled it and removed it's memory core," reported Tali.

"I thought the geth fried their memory cores when they died. Some sort of defence mechanism?" Anderson questioned.

"Must've been tricky for you to preserve the core," I said.

"My people created the geth. If you're quick, careful and lucky, small caches of data can sometimes be saved." Here she activated her Omnitool. "Most of the core was wiped clean. But I salvaged something from its audio banks." She then typed in some commands and played the recording.

"_Eden Prime was a major success. The beacon has brought us one step closer to the Conduit."_

"We've got the bastard now!" I grinned widely.

"That's Saren's voice alright! This proves he was involved in the attack!" Anderson said hopefully.

"Tali, you are a lifesaver and one awesome mechanic!" I beamed at her.

"I'm just paying back my debt to you, but thanks for the compliment," she replied with a smile in her voice.

"So what's this Conduit he was talking about?" Kaiden asked.

"Maybe some sort of Prothean tech?" Kali theorized.

"It's possible," Ashley replied.

"Wait, there's more. Saren wasn't working alone," Tali interrupted and played the recording from the start.

"_Eden Prime was a major success. The beacon has brought us one step closer to the Conduit."_

"_And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."_

"Who's that I wonder?" Garrus wondered. "The one talking about the Reapers. And what are Reapers anyway?"

"According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago," Tali explained.

"That's around the demise of the Protheans," I said. "Is it possible that the Reapers were responsible for the downfall of the Protheans?"

"That's right. They hunted the Protheans to total extinction, and then they vanished. At least, that's what the geth believe," Tali confirmed.

"Sounds a little far-fetched," Udina replied.

"Maybe not. This is the geth that we're talking about. They're not organics who believe in legends or myths. They're logical. They're AIs. If they believe that the Reapers exist, then there's a very real chance that they do," I explained. "Plus this fits with my Prothean vision now. I saw the galaxy wide annihilation of the Protheans. It was being done by synthetics and now I believe that those synthetics were the Reapers."

"The geth revere the Reapers as gods; the pinnacle of non-organic life. And they believe Saren knows how to bring the Reapers back," said Tali.

"The stakes on this thing just got a whole lot higher," Dawn said.

"The Council is just going to love this," Udina sighed sarcastically.

"That's for sure. But it's not just about humanity anymore. They need to know the details," I said.

"Even if we fail to get the Council to recognise this threat, we now have evidence that proves Saren's relations to the geth," Anderson said.

"I guess that's good enough for you at the moment sir?" I asked with a small smile.

"Damn straight," he nodded.

"The Captain's right. We need to present this to the Council right away," Udina agreed.

"What about her? The quarian?" Ashley asked.

"Now that's a bit rude Ashley, she has a name you know," I replied, disappointed in her distrustful nature about aliens.

"Commander, let me come with you. I'm a great mechanic," she said.

"Not that I'm declining, but what about your Pilgrimage?" I asked.

"The Pilgrimage proves that we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good. What does it say about me if I turn my back on this?" she asked. "Saren is a danger to the entire galaxy. My Pilgrimage can wait."

"Well then, welcome to the group," I grinned as I held out my hand. I heard a quiet scoff from Ashley as Tali shook my hand. "Thanks. You won't regret this," Tali thanked.

"Now, there are a few rules about this squad. First rule is no discrimination between races. This goes for everyone while we're all here," I said as I looked around, eyeing Ashley a little longer. "If you have a problem, then either come to me or keep it to yourself. Second rule, if any of you want to back out, then say so. I won't hold it against you. Third rule, don't be so uptight. While this will most likely evolve into a 'Save the Galaxy' mission as cheesy as it sounds, also have some fun when you can. This will happen often with me commanding, so get used to it. But when on a mission, we're focused on the mission, despite a joke crack here and there. Voice your opinions or ideas to me. I will not be angry with you if you question my decisions. Got it?"

There were mixed levels of surprise from around the room. Ashley and Garrus were probably the most surprised. Kaiden and Tali had reasonable amounts of surprise (I had to read Tali's body language since she had a mask on), but they accepted it. And Dawn and Kali were either not surprised or only a little surprised about these rules. Anderson had a large smile on his face, as if he knew I was going to say something like this. And Udina was simply shaking his head in despair.

"Anderson and I will go ahead to get things ready with the Council. Take half an hour to get yourself ready before meeting us in the Tower. And Commander, don't be late this time," Udina said after he had collected himself.

"Got it!" I replied. The two then left by the lift.

There were a few moments of silence.

"Anyone want to go exploring the Presidium?" I asked. There was an immediate positive response to this so we all left the apartment.

* * *

><p>"Excuse me, Commander Kitsuné? Could you and your friends spare a moment of your time?" a male Indian accented voice asked as we walked past the Embassies. I turned around and walked over to the speaker.<p>

"Sure. I've got time. What's up?" I asked.

"My name is Samesh Bhatia. Forgive the intrusion, but I have nowhere else to turn," he introduced himself.

"Why don't you have a seat Samesh," Dawn offered as she sat down on one of the waiting seats scattered about.

"Oh, thank you my dear," he replied as he sat down himself. I joined him and so did Tali. Garrus, Kaiden, Kali and Ashley stayed standing.

"So what's the problem?" I asked.

"My wife was a marine. She was in the 212 on Eden Prime," Samesh began but Ashley interrupted.

"Wait. The 212? Your wife was Private Nirali Bhatia? I'm Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams. I served in her unit," she said.

"I also served in the 212. I'm Corporal Kali Daniels," Kali introduced.

"Chief Williams and Corporal Daniels. It is a pleasure. Nirali spoke of the two of you with great respect," he replied.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Samesh. Nirali was a good woman. What can we do for you?" Kali asked, her head bowed in sadness.

"I've requested that my wife's body be returned to me for cremation, but the military has refused my request," he explained angrily.

"Any reason why?" I asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that they have declared it impossible for my wife to be returned to me," he replied.

"We'll go check this out and try to get them to release your wife's body, ok?" I asked.

"The man in charge of my case is Mr. Bosker. When I last saw him, he was in the expensive bar over there," he pointed to the right where the Embassies Lounge was located. "Thank you for your time. I just want to give my wife a proper funeral and the respect she deserves."

I placed my hand on his shoulder. "I'm gonna do everything I can to get her back to you. I promise." I then stood up and we left as he was close to crying from what I had said.

"Do we have time to do this before the meeting?" Kali asked.

"Sure. We've got plenty of time," I replied as we made our way to the lounge. We immediately spotted the guy leaning up against a support beam and walked over to him.

"My goodness, you're Commander Kitsuné and Lieutenant Kissane!" he addressed us. "Your activities made for quite a briefing in the Diplomatic Corps! Is there something I can do to assist the two of you?"

"Yes, a man named Samesh Bhatia is having some trouble claiming his wife's body," I explained.

"Ah, Mr Bhatia," Bosker replied as he rubbed the back of his neck in an embarrassed manner. "A good man in an understandably frustrating position. I wish I could help him."

"You can! Just let him take his wife's body back!" Kali almost shouted at the clerk.

"Calm down Kali," I ordered her.

"I… sorry Commander," she replied before falling silent.

"Sorry about the outburst. She worked alongside Samesh's wife in the 212. She's a little on edge about this subject," I apologised.

"It's ok. Private Nirali Bhatia died on Eden Prime as Mr Bhatia no doubt told you. Her wounds are inconsistent with any type of weapon we've seen before. That's why her body is being held," he explained.

"Well the geth have had time to upgrade their weapons. I'm sure this isn't a surprise to you," I replied.

"Indeed. That's why her body is extremely valuable to the Alliance. We can study the damage and find a way to counter this new weapon, to help develop better defences against geth attacks. Respectfully, Private Bhatia may save more lives in death than she did in life," he explained.

"I get what you're trying to do, but holding the body is wrong," I said.

"Commander, you of all people should understand how far we must go to protect humanity," the clerk protested.

'God, sounds like a Cerberus fanatic,' I thought before speaking. "Not if we lose out humanity in the process. We can't sacrifice who we are for our safety. I'm fighting to stop things like this from happening," I explained to him without raising my voice. There was no need for it.

Bosker sighted but nodded. "Alright Commander. You win. It was hard enough refusing Mr Bhatia, but I'm not going to risk an incident by refusing you. Tell Samesh that the body is being shipped back to Earth. I'll go now to see to it myself."

"You're a good man Bosker. Thank you," I shook his hand.

"Sure thing Commander. It was a pleasure meeting you and your friends," he replied before he left for his desk.

"Thank you Commander," Kali said.

"No problem," I replied before I heard someone mention the word 'Consort'. I turned around to see one three crewmen from the Normandy chatting. The one who had mentioned the Consort was a Private by the last name of Fredricks. Curious, I walked up to him.

"Don't believe the rumours. The Consort would never reveal her secrets," Fredricks said passionately.

"Of course she wouldn't. She'd be tossed out of the nearest airlock if she did," one of his friends rebutted.

"I suppose," the other friend, most likely the one who brought up the subject replied.

"Besides, Nick, the Consort's nothing like the girls back on the colonies. She's… She's…," Fredricks tried to find the words to describe her, but obviously failed.

"You don't have to do it with her. You can just talk to her if you want," the first friend explained.

"Is that all you did, Jaz? Just talk?" teased Fredricks.

"I didn't say that!" Jaz replied very quickly, but it was a poor attempt at covering the truth up.

"Ha! I bet you did, too," Fredricks grinned.

"Shut up, Fredricks!" Jaz hissed at the Private.

"Hello boys," Dawn spoke up.

"What do you want?" Fredricks asked as he turned to face us. He then got an eyeful of us and immediately straightened while saluting. "Oh, Commander, Lieutenants. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Relax man, its cool. Just interested in what you were talking bout," I clapped my hand on his shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Oh, I, uh, see… Well, she's an asari who works here as… that is, she helps people with… things," the Private skirted very carefully around the subject.

I sighed. "Private, I give you permission to be brutally honest on this subject," I ordered.

The guy snapped to a salute again when he heard the tone of my voice. "Yes, sir!" he replied before what I had said actually was processed. "Oh! But I… uhh…"

"You never went to see herm did you Fredricks," Kaiden grinned knowingly.

"Busted!" I grinned as well.

"I, uh… no. I never did. I couldn't afford it since it would cost half a year's salary just to go in and talk to her," he sighed.

"Buddy, I feel for you," I replied. "Can you tell me where she's at?"

"Sure, she's across the bridge from the embassies," he directed me.

"Cheers," I replied before we walked away.

"You aren't serious in thinking about going there later, are you?" Dawn asked.

"Sure am," I replied. I was curious as to how beautiful she was now that this was real life. I heard Dawn sigh and mumble something about me thinking with my other head. I just shook my head in an amused fashion as we left the lounge.

"She's known as a powerful and highly respected figure on the Citadel. She is so popular that it can take months to get an appointment, and the down payment is a steep price," Garrus explained.

"Did you ever go to her?" I asked.

"No. I was tempted but always realised that it probably wasn't worth it. Besides, she's not my type," the turian replied.

"I'm sure you're in a very small minority there," Tali spoke up. "I've heard many things about her from listening into a few conversations here and there. It seems everyone is a fan of her."

"I'll pop by later to check it out," I said as we walked down the stairs to see Samesh waiting for us.

"Hello Samesh! Good news. She's coming home," I greeted with a warm smile.

"Thank you. I will return home and begin my preparations," he bowed to us. "It does not bring me happiness, but it may bring me peace. Goodbye, Commander." He was just about to leave when Kali stopped him.

"Samesh? I don't know if this helps, but your wife… Nirali, loved you very much. She missed your cooking; always talking about you and your famous Lamb Korma curry. And she played recordings of you every night before she went to sleep," the blonde said, with a few tears running down her face.

Samesh saw this and enveloped her in a hug. "I know, Miss Daniels. But thank you. It is nice to hear it again." He let go and Kali sniffed a few times before she wiped away the tears. "Goodbye to you, Kali. And goodbye Miss Williams. I hope we meet again." He then turned and walked out of the embassies.

"You ok?" I asked Kali.

"Yeah… I'm ok now," she nodded. Her eyes were slightly red, but she wasn't crying anymore.

"Right. Let's go and politically kick some ass!" I cheered with some of the others cheering too.

* * *

><p>"Come on. Udina's presenting Tali'Zorah's evidence," Anderson said as we reached the last set of stairs before the Council chambers.<p>

"Finally, someone other than the Commander addressing me by my name," Tali muttered sarcastically.

"Ok everyone. Wait here. Dawn and I will be back soon," I said.

"Give em hell Commander," Ashley said.

"Sure thing," I replied before we turned and followed Anderson up the stairs. We reached the top just as the recording was ticking over in front of the Council.

As it finished, Udina pointed to the Council. "You wanted proof. There it is," he said, not bothering to hide the smug smile on his face. I didn't blame him. I felt like smiling too.

"This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador," the Turian Councillor admitted. "Saren will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."

"I recognise the other voice, the one speaking with Saren," the Asari Councillor, Tevos, I think her name was, confessed. "Matriarch Benezia."

"That's got to be a pretty painful blow, ma'am. I'm sorry for your people's loss," I bowed my head respectfully.

"Thank you Commander," Tevos replied with a sad smile on her lips. "Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic, and she has many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren."

"I'm more interested in the Reapers. What do you know about them?" the Salarian Councillor, Valern, asked.

"Well, what we have is very sketchy at best," I replied, feeling it best if I took over this part. "They were a race of hyper-sentient machines that appeared suddenly 50,000 years ago and systematically wiped the Protheans out of existence, leaving only their beacons as their legacy. Afterwards they vanished themselves, leaving virtually no trace they ever existed. If evidence ever exists of the Reapers, it would make sense that it would be in some of the surviving Prothean beacons, yes?"

"True, but we've not seen any evidence of such an existence, in Prothean beacons or otherwise," the Turian Councillor, Sparatus, stated.

"That's right. Until my contact with the beacon on Eden Prime. I didn't bring this up in the last meeting because I realised that you would find me crazy at worst or simply dreamed it at best. And I understand your view completely Councillor Sparatus. You are one who needs irrefutable evidence before you believe something. But ask yourself this, why would this vision I had, and what was retracted from the memory core of the salvaged geth, coincide so accurately with each other? Especially when I had no knowledge of what the geth knew at the time. And then there's this extra bit of info. Say the geth were an organic race for a moment, and so were the Reapers. To the geth, these Reapers are their gods, and they believe that Saren is their prophet," I continued to explained.

"Exactly! They believe in this superstitious nonsense," Sparatus began, though his voice held an uncertain tone that certainly wasn't in the game.

"However! However, the geth are not organic. They are synthetic. Machines. Computers. AIs. They think much differently to us. They think logically, soundly, with no room for myths or legends. They don't believe. They simply know," I paused to let this sink in. And sink in it did. I saw the expression change on Sparatus's face as he realised that such a thing was very possible. Valern was thinking over it, but his face also held fear in it. It was the same story for Tevos.

"Commander… tell us what you saw in this… vision," Sparatus asked, voicing the word 'vision' as if he didn't believe he would ever speak that word in his life.

I sighed and closed my eyes. This was a far better direction then I could have ever hoped for. 'Maybe this will make all the difference. Do I dare to hope?' I thought before I opened my eyes.

"The scene is still very much jumbled up, out of order. I'll need help in restoring the order of it all, and I'm pretty sure I'll need an asari to help me out on that thanks to your mind melding thing you do," I nodded at Tevos, who nodded back. "But from what I can gather, it's a vision of a galaxy wide war between the Prothean Empire and the Reapers. I'll need some more time to sort the vision out. The information is still there, clear as day, but it's as if it's a compressed file and I'm trying to read the file as it's compressed without a decompression software. Does that help explain it?" I asked.

"I can understand the terminology you're using to explain," Valern nodded in understanding.

"I'm glad one of us does," Tevos mumbled, clearly lost.

"It's ok. You can sort out the terminology later," I replied with a small smile, glad that the Council seemed a lot more willing to see reason in this universe.

"And this 'Conduit' Saren mentioned?" Tevos asked.

"We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back. Saren's searching for it. That's why he attacked Eden Prime," Anderson took over, letting me rest my voice and get a drink of water.

"Do we even know what this Conduit is?" Valern asked.

"No clue," I replied, finished with my water.

"I'm still finding it hard to believe in these Reapers, since we've found almost no evidence to back up their existence," Sparatus said.

"Well it is a scary thought. These Reapers supposedly wiped out the Protheans; the single most impressive and expansive civilization to exist to the best of our knowledge. I know I would be hesitant to believe such a tale, especially since if it were true, it would mean the end of all of our existences. Plus there's the fact that we are still here. If the Reapers did try to wipe out life 50,000 years ago, then why are we still here, because life doesn't evolve from single celled organisms in that kind of time window," I said.

"While that is a very good point, why are you poking holes in your theory?" Tevos asked.

"Because I'm playing both sides here so you can see that I can see your point of view while also I can argue my side too. Here's what I'm getting at. Make me a Spectre. Let me track down Saren. And if I find proof of the Reaper's existence, I will record it and bring the evidence back here for you to decide." I then blinked as I realise what I had just said. I then bowed my head. "I'm sorry, I got carried away. I know I have no right to ask this of you. But I have proven that I can get the results and find proof when you thought there was none. You gave me the chance then. I'm just asking you to give me the same chance again with this." I paused before I grinned. "But with a little more time to find it of course." This got a few laughs out of all three Council members.

"In a hypothetical discussion, say we believe you about the Reapers. If you stop Saren, will it stop the Reaper armada from returning?" Sparatus asked.

"Hypothetically, sir? I don't know. It might. Or, the Reaper invasion is inevitable and we only buy ourselves a 'calm before the storm' reprieve, so to speak. We won't know until we know more. If I'm wrong, then I will admit it and apologise. But there's an old human saying. 'Plan for the worst instead of hope for the best'. You're a military man Councillor Sparatus, or you used to be. I'm sure this saying rings true for you," I asked.

"Indeed. I can see the wisdom of your words," Sparatus agreed. "So you're saying we should alert everyone about this after we get some proof?"

"Not everyone, sir. It would just cause mass panic. Only tell people you trust to keep it secret. Train your troops for the day the Reapers might arrive. Stay vigilant. But if I don't find proof then you can dismiss everything that I've said, or you can believe what I say and stay vigilant anyways. The choice is yours," I said.

"Well, Saren will have a tough time, I'm sure. He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. We've just stripped him of his status," Sparatus said.

"That is not good enough! You know he's hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send your fleet in!" Udina ordered.

"A fleet cannot track down one turian," Valern stated.

"A Citadel fleet could secure the entire region. Keep the geth from attacking any more of our colonies," Udina continued to push.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Ambassador. It could just as easily spark a war with the Terminus Systems. If the Reapers are coming, the galaxy being embroiled in war would make their jobs so much easier when we're fighting each other. United we have a chance of halting their advance and pushing them back or destroying them," I reasoned.

"The Commander is right," Sparatus agreed. "Even if the Reapers don't exist, us being in a war that involves all of us isn't something any of us want. I'm sorry to sound cold hearted, but a few dozen human colonies aren't worth dragging the entire galaxy into confrontation."

"But there is another solution. A way to stop Saren that does not require fleets or armies," Tevos said.

Sparatus looked at the asari. "While I believe that humanity as a whole is still not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres," here the Turian Councillor paused. "I believe that Commander Kitsuné is light years ahead of almost everyone in the human race. He is wise beyond his years and it seems that not only he has no problem with other races joining up with him, but prefers it," here it sounded like he was smiling, though it sure was hard to tell from his face. He seemed to look behind me and I turned to see Tali, Garrus, Kali, Ashley and Kaiden standing on the top step being me. I smiled before focusing my attention to the front again.

I watched as they all typed in commands into the terminals in front of them. "Commander Kitsuné, step forward," Tevos said with a small smile.

I blinked as I realised what this meant. I did so, replacing Udina's spot. I suddenly felt really nervous. I shook myself mentally, reminding myself that this is what I had asked for. I looked around to see that there was no-one on the balconies, which was different from the game. I was glad of that, because such a thing like the Reapers needed to remain a closely guarded secret until everyone was ready.

"It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel," Tevos began.

"Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle, those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file," Valern said.

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of courage, determination and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will," Tevos continued.

"Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defence. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold," Sparatus stated.

"You are the first human Spectre, Commander Josh Kitsuné. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species," Tevos finished up the induction speech.

"Thank you, Councillor Tevos. I am honoured," I bowed my head.

"We are sending you into the Traverse after Saren. He's a fugitive from justice, so you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him," Valern said. I knew what my mission was and he did too, but he was just sticking to protocol.

"Any leads?" I asked.

"We will forward any relevant files to Ambassador Udina," Sparatus replied.

"This meeting of the Council is adjourned," Tevos finished up. I nodded to her and the other members of the Council before turning around, grinning widely.

"Congratulations, Commander," Anderson said as he shook my hand.

"Thanks, Captain," I replied. I turned to Dawn to see the look of utter surprise and awe on her face. She walked over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck in a tight hug.

"I don't know how on earth you did it, but we now have the Council on our side concerning the Reapers. I am seriously impressed Josh," she whispered in my ear before she withdrew.

"We've got a lot of work to do, Kitsuné," Udina said. "You're going to need a ship, a crew, supplies…"

"You'll all gain access to special equipment and training now. You should go down to the C-Sec Academy and speak to the Spectre requisitions officer," Anderson advised.

"Anderson, come with me," Udina ordered like he would a dog. "I'll need your help to set all this up." The two then left me, Dawn and the others, who immediately crowded around me.

"I gotta say, Commander, you nailed em good," Ashley grinned.

"Yeah. You're a big bad Spectre now. Nice job," Kaiden shook my hand with a smile on his face.

"You really laid down the facts in a fool proof manner, Commander," Kali said.

"Gave them no room to move around," Garrus added.

"And they're open to the existence of the Reapers now. If it was anyone else I think they would've just dismissed everything that they would say about the Reapers," Tali said, her eyes glowing a little brighter than usual.

"Well I couldn't have done it without all your help. So thank you everyone," I thanked, gaining smiles all around.

"So, I still have some things to take care of. You can all do your own thing until Anderson calls. Let me get your Omni IPs so I can ping you," I suggested.

"Going to go check out the Consort?" Kali grinned slyly.

"Shut up," I grumbled as I finished getting the IPs from all of my new friends.

"Don't worry. I'll keep him outta trouble," Dawn replied and I sighed, knowing that there was going to be some trouble about that later.

"Alright, free time until called for. Have fun you guys. No heavy drinking. I don't want to haul your asses to our new ship," I warned, to which laughter was heard from a few of the members of my squad.

"Is it ok if I stick with you guys?" Tali asked.

"Sure thing Tali. Let's go on an adventure!" I grinned before we started for the taxi service terminal.

* * *

><p>(AN: I am so proud of this day. Cranked out one and a half chapters, around 10,000 words, in one day. Man am I awesome or what? Now to explain why the Council wasn't a pain in the ass. I was gonna go canon with this, but my writing just seemed to turn away from it. I wasn't even aware of it until I was halfway through the meeting.<p>

So I'm gonna take this as the God of FanFiction's divine intervention and just go with the flow. And I think that my argument was very sound, however, if you think there are any inconsistencies with it, then feel free to tell me either in review or PM format. I probably won't change it, but if the notes you say are good enough I may put them in future chapters for the sake of chatting about it with a crew member.

So that's that. I'm also focusing all my writing energy into this story at the moment but I'm also watching One Piece as I was able to recently download HQ versions of the FUNimation dub, which is awesome, and it's the fact that there's an extra 100 episodes I haven't seen yet. And I'll answer the questions about One Piece you may have now so you don't need to ask me in a review [seriously, don't do that. Just PM me the questions and review your thoughts in the review section]. So, yes, I am planning a One Piece fic and no, it will not be worked on for a long time, since I still have my Pokémon stories and Final Fantasy stories to finish up. Then they are completed, or at least, more is completed, maybe I'll start the OP fic. But at the moment it's just taking notes on what to do differently from canon as I watch the episodes.

So everyone who's reading this fic, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know I had a blast writing it, and I hope you'll all review your little hearts out now.)


	8. Chapter 8: Tying Up Loose Ends

**Chapter 8: Tying Up Loose Ends**

"I've told you before, you're not allowed in here!"

"This one believes it has the right to move freely through this area."

I turned my head to see a C-Sec turian officer arguing with a hanar. The three of us walked over to see what all the commotion was about. This was also my first time seeing a hanar up close. It really did look like a giant chromed jellyfish with six very long tentacle legs. It was weird because the first time I saw one, playing ME2 on the PS3, I thought they would have female voices.

"You're creating a public disturbance! It's against Citadel regulations!" the C-Sec officer argued back.

"This one is unsure why the other would not wish word of the Enkindlers to be spread," the hanar replied in that polite speech they always used as well as always speaking about themselves and other in the third person. The hanar then noticed me and turned to face me. "Do you desire to learn of the Enkindlers? Or has the C-Sec officer enlisted assistance?" the hanar asked.

"I always thought hanar were too polite," Tali whispered to Dawn, who nodded her agreement.

"Why is this guy giving you a hard time?" I asked.

"The C-Sec officer requests that this one purchase an evangelical permit to spread the truth of the Enkindlers," the jellyfish replied.

"Why not just buy the permit then?"

"The truth of the Enkindlers is universal. This one humbly believes that the truth should not be suppressed," it replied.

"Not so humble if it's arguing with the officer," Dawn whispered back to Tali.

"Exacting payment as a means of imposing limits upon the truth is an abrogation of this one's religious freedom."

"Who are the Enkindlers?" Tali asked, sounding curious.

"Your people know them as the Protheans. They are the true creators of this one's people. The Enkindlers raised the hanar from ignorance into consciousness by granting this one's people the gift of speech," the hanar replied. I saw Tali nodding her head in understanding.

"How bout I talk to the officer for you?" I asked.

"This one would be most grateful for the assistance. Please let this one know if success is achieved," the hanar thanked. I then walked over to the officer, who was relaying something into his headset.

"That hanar refuses to listen to reason! Why can't it act in an orderly and lawful manner?" the turian asked as I came over.

"I think you should let the hanar preach in the Presidium," I replied.

"The Presidium is a place of culture and respect! It should not be filled with zealots shouting their idiocy!" the officer growled in reply.

"Hey! It's not like the hanar is screaming about doomsday propaganda. It's just talking about the Protheans. It's not even shouting," Dawn replied.

"That may be so, but why should the jellies get special treatment? Every other species understands and obeys the laws!" the C-Sec officer replied.

"But has anyone actually complained about this hanar?" Tali asked.

"Not yet, but any good C-Sec officer removes problems before they create a public nuisance," he replied.

"You've explained the law. If the hanar gets in trouble then it's the hanar's ass," I added.

The officer sighed. "I suppose I can tell my superior that I attempted a diplomatic solution. Some other C-Sec officer can arrest the hanar. It's no longer my concern. Thank you for your assistance." He then walked back to the C-Sec office.

"Ok, you're all good!" I called over to the hanar as we walked over.

"The officer has left, and this one is free to share the glory of the Enkindlers. This one offers its appreciation," the hanar replied.

"Just don't get too carried away," I advised. "And don't worry about the reward. It's not needed."

"Very well. Now, finally, this one can continue sharing the truth unimpeded," the hanar nodded before moving off to a more suitable spot.

'I hope they never know about the real truth of the Protheans,' I sighed mentally before we moved on.

* * *

><p>"Wow! What is that?" Tali asked as she looked at something that was standing off to the side.<p>

"Oh, that's the Relay Monument," Dawn explained as we looked at the small scale version of a Mass Relay. "It's a mystery as to why it's here. Some say it's a tribute to Prothean vanity as a reminder of their conquest of the galaxy through their Mass Relay tech. And others say that it's merely a symbol of unity; a Prothean acknowledgement that the relays would eventually lead other species here to the Citadel. No-one knows for sure, but it's still a hot topic among academics and scholars."

"I see," Tali replied and I saw her fingers twitch as she gazed at the structure.

"No, Tali, you can't take it apart," I grinned. She spun to face me. "I-I-I-I wasn't s-seriously thinking t-that!" she stuttered. I laughed loudly at her reaction and Dawn joined in. We then continued to walk and I heard Tali mutter, "I wish I could take it apart, find out how it ticks and then put it back together again."

"Geez, she's like the Mass Effect version of Winry Rockbell from FullMetal Alchemist," I whispered to Dawn, who giggled.

* * *

><p>"Do you really have to go in here?" Dawn asked me as we approached the Consort's office.<p>

"You can stay here if you want," I replied. I was in love with Dawn, but I was still curious to meet the Consort in real life.

Dawn sighed. "No, I'll go in with you, if only to keep you from doing anything stupid."

We entered the building and we were straight away looking at the receptionist. This asari was not like any of the others I had seen so far. Her face was a shimmering blue and reflected the interior light well, almost like her face was made of crystal. There were also white line makeup on her head, where humans would have eyebrows and there was a thick line running down the middle of her bottom lip.

"I am Nelyna. I don't recognise you as one of the expected clients today," she introduced. "Would you like me to see when the Consort will be able to meet with you?"

"I can't just go in?" I asked.

"Mm, I'm afraid not," Nelyna shook her head with a smile. "Yeah, you must understand there are many who seek the Consort's services. But if you wish to leave your name, she'll make every effort to meet with you."

"Ok, sure. I'm Commander Josh Kitsuné. I'm with the Spectres," I introduced myself.

"Excellent. You should hear something in…" she paused as she scrolled through the bookings on her terminal. "Hmm, three to four months."

"Ouch," I replied.

"It is a long wait, but I promise you it will be worth the wait," she replied.

"So what do you do here?" Tali asked.

"I am one of the Consort's acolytes. Many of the people here today will not see the Consort, but they expect to be attended to just the same. It's our job to ensure that they leave contented," she explained.

"What kind of things do you attend to?" Dawn asked in a slightly grumpy tone. But despite that, she seemed interested.

The acolyte blinked at her voice but shook it off. "Well, each acolyte has her unique abilities. Some sooth with song, others with conversation. As much as possible we seek to match the needs of our clients to the skills of our acolytes. My specialty is touch. My fingertips can find every tension point in your body… and relieve it." The last part was said with a small amount of innuendo, but it was probably meant just to tease and she actually was probably just an exceptional masseuse.

"I wouldn't mind trying out your services," I admitted.

"Yeah, me too," Dawn spoke up, no longer grumpy. I guess women loved a good massage.

"Excellent. And your name is?" Nelyna asked.

"Oh, it's Lieutenant Dawn Kissane," she replied.

"Very well. I will add you both to our client list. We should be able to see the two of you in…" she again flicked through the listings on her terminal. "Hmm, three or four months."

"Well, someone's popular," I noted as Dawn looked dismayed at the fact that she would have to wait four months for her massage. "Well since we can't get in at the moment, I guess we'll be off."

"We'll contact you when your appointments come up," Nelyna assured.

"_Nelyna,"_ a voice spoke through the asari's terminal.

"Yes, Sha'ira?" she responded respectfully.

"_Send the Commander and his companions up to see me. I wish to speak with him," _the voice spoke again.

"Yes, of course mistress," she replied before looking up at us. "Huh, it appears the Consort has taken notice of you. She'd like to meet with you now."

"Really? Lucky!" I grinned before we moved into the room. We walked through the room, taking little notice of the others, and headed to the stairs at the back. After crossing the long corridor and opening the door at the end, we came face to face with the Consort. Well, face to the back of her head anyway.

As I walked down the three steps, she spoke. "That's close enough, Commander."

I stopped. "Uhh… ok, sure."

"I've heard a great many things about you ever since you first settled here on the Citadel a year ago," she said.

'Huh… so that's why our place barely has any stuff in there. We only recently moved in there, but have been too busy with missions to fill it up a little more,' I thought to myself.

"So what is it that you do?" I asked, phrasing the question as if I was asking her speciality.

"That depends on your needs. I offer advice to some and comfort to others. I have a certain problem that could use your expertise." She then turned around and I blinked.

Her face, while not as shiny as Nelyna's, had a soft glow to it. And I could tell she was quite wise. She had a strong sensual aura surrounding her. It was almost palpable.

"If you want something shot at, like a few fan-boys that are pissing you off, then I can do that. If it's diplomacy you're after… well I just went one round with the Council and came out on top. That's gotta count for something," I grinned in a goofy manner.

She laughed softly and smiled. "I didn't think you had such a good sense of humour, Commander. But yes, my problem requires some diplomacy skills. I have a friend, Septimus, a retired turian general. I won't discuss the details, but he wanted me to be a bit more than I could be."

"He fell in love with ya and you turned him down because of your position, right?" I asked.

She blinked. "Yes, how did you know?"

"It was easy to go to that conclusion from what you said and what you do for others here," I replied with a shrug.

"Well, your observational skills are much better than what I expected. Tt is as you say. We had a falling out after I rejected him. Now he spends his days in Chora's Den drinking and spreading lies about me." Now Sha'ira had walked up to me and stood a little over half a meter away from me. Her aura was almost intoxicating me. She then raised her hand and stroked the side of my face softly, sending jolts of pleasure running through me. "If you would speak to him as a fellow soldier, I believe he will listen to you and let the matter be." Now I had the makings of a major hard on.

"Anything specific you want me to tell him?" I asked a little faintly as her magic worked on me.

"Appeal to his sense of honour. Remind him of his position as a general." Here she put the finishing touches to get me to do what she wanted by pressing herself up against me. I couldn't feel her breasts press up against my chest because of the damn armour, but just the action itself was enough for junior to fully stiffen up. 'Bloody hell! If this was an anime, I would have suffered from a major nose bleed by now,' I thought frantically. "If you can convince him to stop spreading the lies about me, I would be very grateful." She then stepped back turned her back to me. "Now I must ask you to leave. I have many clients waiting to see me."

I found that I couldn't move for a few seconds before Dawn grabbed my arm and hauled me out of the room. Once we got out, I sighed in relief and leaned up against one of the walls.

"God, that woman has such a powerful aura," I grunted, shaking my head of the cobwebs.

"Are you ok?" Tali asked.

"I will be, once I put some distance between myself and that asari. She didn't have to sexually tease me to get what she wanted. I would have helped her out," I sighed as I pushed off from the wall.

* * *

><p>"I think I see him. Over there," Dawn said as she pointed across the bar's entrance to where a turian was sitting alone, drinking.<p>

"Nice one Dawn," I said as we walked over to him.

"Commander? Hmph… What do you want?" he asked, surprised at first but the emotion wilted away quickly.

"What's bothering you General?" I asked as I took a seat.

"I've seen a lot of horrible things in my days and there's only one woman in this damn galaxy that helps me forget it," Septimus replied.

"So if you feel that way, then why spread lies about her?" Dawn asked.

"'Cause she rejected me. Me! Septimus Oraka, general of the turian fleet!" he slurred angrily.

"I can understand why you're upset. If a girl I cared about did that to me… man… I'd be out of action for a while. But spreading lies about her doesn't make it better," I said.

"Look, kid, I appreciate what your trying to do, but don't waste your time," he sighed.

"Did you ever win a battle by moping in a bar?" I asked.

"Ha, war! That's what this feels like all right. How did I let it come to this?" he asked himself. "So you think it's that easy? Just straighten up and act like a general?"

"I think it's worth a shot General," Tali encouraged.

"Huh. Maybe you and your friends are right. Sha'ira's worth the effort… even if she won't have me back," he sighed. "Guess I'll go apologise to her… after a cold shower, or two."

"She'll forgive you. She seems that kind of person," I smiled.

"Say, you're a bright kid. Would you be interested in earning a few extra credits?" he asked.

"Sure. What's the job?"

"There's an elcor diplomat out there who believes Sha'ira is giving up his secrets. But it was just me spreading the lies. I need you to convince him of the truth," he explained.

"You got proof that he'll believe?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah. Take this datapad. It shows where I got my info. It will exonerate Sha'ira and convince the elcor," he said, handing me the datapad.

"Where's the target?"

"He's over in the embassies complaining about Sha'ira. His name is Xeltan." He then picked up the remaining drink and nodded to me. "Here's to soldiers acting like soldiers. Thanks Commander. You know… you might make a good general yourself one day."

'Oh if only he knew,' I sighed mentally.

* * *

><p>"Man, talking to an elcor is like watching paint dry. So fucking boring!" I groaned as we entered Sha'ira's place once again. "Dawn, I'm counting on you to snap me out of it if I start drooling or something idiotic. But no hitting!"<p>

"Sure thing," she replied as we walked through the door to her chambers.

"We're back," I announced, more guarded against the woman's powerful aura this time.

"Well I recently received a lovely note from Septimus. Thank you very much for speaking with him. And even the elcor diplomat has withdrawn his campaign against me. You certainly don't disappoint," Sha'ira thanked.

"No problems. I'm glad everything worked out," I replied with a smile.

"You're too kind, Commander. But I would not expect you to help me out of the goodness of your heart," she replied, returning the smile. "I have something for you, if you are interested."

"While I am interested, is it possible you can do a favour for me instead?" I asked, suddenly thinking of a great idea.

"Sure. If it is in my power to grant, I will do what I can," she replied with a nod.

"I have a crewman who's been trying to come see you. But he doesn't earn much and your fee would cost him half of his yearly pay and he can't afford to spend that kind of money. I was wondering if you could give him a session for free? Just the one. Is that ok?" I asked.

Sha'ira smiled and my legs almost gave way under me. "You are a kind and generous man who thinks of others. I will do this for you. What's his name?"

"It's Private Fredricks," I replied.

Sha'ira nodded before walking over to a terminal and pressing a command. "Nelyna? Can you book in a Private Fredricks to meet with me in the next free booking?" she asked.

"_Actually, your next appointment has been cancelled by the patron who made the appointment, so if he comes by in the next 15 minutes, you can fit him in then," _Nelyna replied.

"Perfect. List his payment as paid," Sha'ira said.

"_Very well Mistress,"_ came the reply.

"It is done. I suggest you go meet your friend and tell him to hurry over, as he only gets an hour," the Consort reminded me.

"Sure thing," I nodded. "It was a pleasure meeting you."

"The pleasure was all mine," she smiled brilliantly at me as we left.

"That was a nice thing to do," Dawn said as we hurried over to the Embassies Lounge.

"Yeah, well, the guy deserves to have his fun time with the Consort," I replied.

* * *

><p>"Seriously Commander? You did that for me?" Fredricks shouted in surprise as his friends looked chocked.<p>

"Sure, but you need to go now, ok?" I said.

"Right! Thank you so much, Commander!" the Private called as he ran out of the café.

I smiled. "I feel real good about myself now."

"Don't let it go to your head," Dawn smirked.

"Dawn, you wound me," I puppy eyed her.

She laughed and pushed me away, giggling the whole time. "Don't do the puppy eyes. It's wrong seeing it on a guy!" I hung my head in fake sadness, much to Dawn's amusement.

* * *

><p>"So what now? We have another hour to kill thanks to Fredricks getting in some hot time with the Consort," Dawn asked.<p>

"We could always go see Wrex. And then we need to pop by Wong to pass on the disk I got from Fist," I replied.

So we made our way to the C-Sec Academy. We saw Wrez standing next to the elevator. However he was the one who called out to me.

"You. Human. You the one they call Kitsuné?" he asked bluntly.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"The name's Wrex. The Shadow Broker paid me a lot of money to get rid of Fist. Only you got there first," Wrex said.

"Sorry Wrex. But maybe you should have decided to blast through the front doors like I did. Besides he had information I wanted," I replied.

"Well I guess the payment is yours," Wrex grumbled.

"Naw, you can keep the money," I replied.

"I won't take credit for someone else's work. I already transferred the payment into your account," Wrex said.

I checked my account balance with my Omnitool and saw that he was right. "Wow… that's a few zeros there," I blinked, seeing the 50,000 credit payment in the recent transaction page. I also saw that I had saved up quite a lot of money.

"That's… awfully nice of you," I said.

"Hmm," he nodded. "Well I liked the way you handled Fist. Now I hear you're going after Saren. I was thinking I should come along."

"What do you get out of this?" I asked.

"I'm not in this for the money. I want to be where the action is. There's a storm coming. And you and Saren are right in the middle of it," he said.

"Well we could certainly use a heavy hitter like yourself on our side. I guess you're coming along with us then," I grinned.

"Smart move, Kitsuné," he replied. "Here's my Omni IP. Ping me when you're ready to ship out."

* * *

><p>"Oh wait! We should check out the view from the dock at the Normandy," Dawn said.<p>

"Is it nice?" Tali asked.

"It's a great view," I replied as we stepped into the correct elevator. After waiting a full 5 minutes on the slow as hell lift, we arrived at where the Normandy was docked.

"Wow! That is quite a view!" Tali said as she looked around.

"Hello Commander!" a voice called and we saw Captain Anderson and Udina up ahead. We walked over and exchanged the pleasantries.

"I've got big news for you, Kitsuné. Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normany. The ship is yours now," Udina explained.

"Really? Whoo Hoo! My own ship! Booya!" I pumped my fist into the air.

"She's quick and quiet and you know the crew. Perfect ship for a Spectre. Treat her well, Commander," Anderson replied with a small smile on his face.

"Thanks so much, sir," I thanked. "But why are you stepping down?"

"You needed your own ship. A Spectre can't answer to anyone but the Council. And it's time for me to step down," he answered.

"Well ok, sure thing. By the way, Harkin said that you used to be a Spectre, or was close to being one. It's up to you whether you want to confirm or deny them. I just wanted you to know what he said, is all," I said.

Anderson sighed. "He's right. Twenty years ago I was in your shoes. They were considering me for the Spectres. I was sent on a mission with Saren, and he made sure the Council rejected me."

"I can see this is a sore subject. I would push you," I replied.

"It's ok. I'll tell you sometime later," he said. "I had my shot. It came and went. Now you have a chance to make up for my mistakes."

"We'll catch or kill Saren, sir. I promise," I nodded.

"Saren's vanished. Don't even try to find him. But we know what he's after: the Conduit. He's got his geth scouring the Traverse looking for clues," the Captain explained.

"We had reports of geth in the Feros system shortly before the colony there dropped out of contact. And there have been sightings around Noveria," added Udina.

"Find out what Saren was after on Feros and Noveria. Maybe you can figure out where the Conduit is before he does," Anderson said.

"Gocha," I replied.

"We have one more lead. Matriarch Benezia, the other voice in the recording? She has a daughter, a scientist who specializes in the Protheans. We don't know if she's involved, but it might be a good idea to try and find her. See what she knows. Her name's Liara. Dr Liara T'Soni," Udina mentioned. "We had reports that she was exploring an archaeological dig on one of the uncharted worlds in the Artemis Tau cluster."

"We'll go for Feros first. Those colonists fight still be alive," I decided.

"It's your decision, Commander. You're a Spectre now. You don't answer to us," Anderson said.

I smiled. "Just because I'm now the Man doesn't mean I'll ignore advice from my seniors."

"But your actions still reflect on humanity as a whole. If you make a mess, it'll be me stuck with cleaning it up," Udina reminded.

"I'll be sure to leave a note next time saying it's not your mess to clean up," I replied sarcastically, bringing soft laughter from Dawn and Tali.

"Hmph. Glad to hear it, Commander. Remember: you were a human long before you were a Spectre. I have a meeting to get to. Captain Anderson can answer any questions you might have," the Human Ambassador finished up before he left.

"We gotta finish up a few things first," I said.

"Sure thing Commander. I'll be here if you need anything," he replied. "I've already notified the crew of the changes in command and here's the Omni IP folder for the Normandy's crew so you can ping them when you want to ship out."

"Thanks a bunch Captain," I grinned.

* * *

><p>"How long has it been now?" Tali asked.<p>

"It's been an hour since we left the Consort's place so I reckon after this delivery we can recall the crew and squad members to the Normandy. Might as well do it now," I replied as I brought up my Omnitool interface and began sending out Pings to the crew and squad members. I also sent the dock number to Wrex as I realised he had no idea which dock my ship was on.

We were currently on the Medical Level of the wards. After I had finished recalling the crew I looked around for Emily Wong. I caught sight of her in exactly the same spot as before. So we crossed over to her.

"Hey Commander. Word on the street is that you've been busy. Congratulations on taking down Fist and becoming the first human Spectre," she said. "I was sure Fist was a big player in anything going on here. Did you find anything in his office that could help me?"

I fished out the disk and handed it to her. "This should get you your story, no problems," I replied.

"You got Fist's files? This could be even bigger than I'd hoped! Thanks so much. I'll wire the funds to your account now," she thanked as she fiddled with her Omnitool for a moment. A soft ping from my own Omnitool alerted me to the completion of the transfer.

"What would my future cooperation be worth? Say, an interview when my investigation is over?" I offered.

"Exclusive? You talk to me before you talk to anyone else? That would be worth quite a bit, and I'd be happy to compensate you accordingly. Just give me a sec," she broke off as she transferred a second deposit into my account. "There you go. Now, if you'll excuse me, I should go see what's on these disks." She then began to walk quickly away, excitement just boiling off of her.

"There's a woman who loves her job," I noted.

"Let's check out the stores. We might not get a chance to for some time," Dawn suggested.

"Good idea," I agreed.

The next 15 minutes were spent browsing a volus's upgrades, but in the end I couldn't decide. So I bought the Elkos Combine Licence for the Normandy's Quarter Master to have. After the purchase I heard someone calling my name. I looked around, and saw short white hair.

"Ahh, shit. It's Conrad," I sighed as the fan-boy made his way over to us.

"You're Commander Kitsuné and Lieutenant Kissane, the heroes of Eden Prime! I am so honoured to meet both of you!" the man said and I swore his eyes were anime sparkly.

"Uhh, yeah…, who are you?" I asked, knowing I would regret this interaction. But I had a nasty horrified fascination with talking to him. Like watching a train wreak in slo-mo.

"My name is Conrad. Conrad Verner. They say the two of you killed more than a hundred geth on Eden Prime!" he smiled giddily.

"That sounds like an overstatement to us," Dawn replied with a pained smile.

"Ha, that is so like the two of you to be modest about your skills. Hey, I know you're probably busy, but do you have time for a quick autograph?" he asked.

Dawn and I looked at each other and conveyed our thoughts with our eyes. 'We're going to regret this.'

"Sure," I smiled a fake smile, but luckily the guy didn't know. I signed the datapad he handed out to me. "Thanks, I really appreciate it. My wife is going to be so impressed!"

'You don't have a wife! You have a shrine with my picture on it you batshit crazy fan-boy!' I mentally yelled at him. I then froze as I realised something while Dawn signed the pad. What did the sicko have of Dawn? A picture? A movie clip? A blow-up sex doll in her image?

"I'll let you get back to work, but next time you're on Earth, I'd love to buy you a drink! Thanks again!" Conrad said as he left, not even registering my vacant look. It took Dawn a couple of seconds to realise something was wrong with me.

"Hey, Josh? What's wrong? Did he traumatize you that much?" she half joked.

"We know he has a shrine dedicated to me, but what about you?" I hissed quietly to her so Tali wouldn't hear. I needn't have bothered as she was busy drooling over the mods in the volus's store.

Dawn then froze like me and she started to shake. I gripped her shoulders and shook her. "Snap out of it. We shouldn't dwell on such horrors," I said.

"Y…You're right. Let's get back to the Normandy. I'm sure everyone's waiting for us," she replied.

I nodded and we walked over to pick up Tali before moving back to the dock.

* * *

><p>(AN: I know this chapter is more or less filler, but I wanted to write on some of the side quests in the Citadel.)<p> 


	9. Chapter 9: Getting To Know the Crew

**Chapter 9: Getting To Know the Crew**

"I know I said we would go to Noveria, but maybe we should pick up Liara first. I gotta make sense of this Prothean crap the beacon shoved into my brain," I said as we went through decontamination.

"Plus she knows heaps about the Prothies too," Dawn agreed.

"That too, but I think we don't have much time to extract her before the geth do," I replied in a worried tone. I didn't see it, but Dawn shot me a glare and a too quiet huff after I had said that.

We went through the door and I turned left to see Joker with Kali in the co-pilot seat. "Has everyone boarded?" I asked Joker.

"Everyone, and then some. You know some people are gonna be a little off by the fact that there's a turian, a krogan and a quarian on board," he asked before noticing Tali. "No offence." He added quickly.

"None taken. I'm going to settle in down in Engineering if you need me," the quirky quarian said before she left.

"I heard about what happened to Captain Anderson. Survives a hundred battles and then gets taken down by backroom politics. Just watch your back, Commander. Things go bad, you're next on their chopping block."

"Your overwhelming confidence in me touches my heart, Joker," I replied sarcastically.

"That's why I'm here… I mean, other than flying this ship," he countered.

"I feel bad we're taking this ship away from Captain Anderson. Everyone knows this was his baby," Dawn said.

"I know. Feels like we're stealing it from him," I agreed.

"Yeah, the captain got screwed. But it's not like you could've stopped it. Nobody's blaming you. Everyone on this ship is behind you and the Lieutenant, Commander. One hundred precent," Joker assured us.

"It's the same for me, Commander. I'll follow you wherever you go to pull your ass out of the fire," Kali agreed with a cheeky grin.

"Thanks for saying that. Both of you. Means a lot," I replied.

"Well, the intercom is open. If you've got something to say to the crew, now's the time," Joker announced.

"Right. Here we go," I sighed in preparing myself. I then walked forward and leaned over Joker to the mic.

"This is Commander Kitsuné speaking. Our orders are to find Saren before he finds the Conduit. I'll be honest with you guys, this mission is gonna be tougher than trying to take down a Krogan Battlemaster with a water pistol.

Humanity has stood apart from the other species of this galaxy for too long. Now it's time to step up and do our part for the rest of the galaxy. Time to prove that we can contribute positively to the people who have controlled this galaxy long before we reached for the stars.

Our enemy knows we've begun the hunt. When we dive into the Traverse, Saren's followers will be waiting for us. But we are prepared to give as good as we get and come out on top.

Humanity needs this. Not just to protect ourselves, but to protect every other species in this galaxy. We will stop Saren!"

I then paused before speaking up again. "As I'm sure you've all noticed, we have a krogan, a quarian and a turian on this ship. If any of you are uncomfortable working with members of different species and won't serve on this ship because of it, then I won't stop you. You have 10 minutes to pack your things and leave the ship before we leave for our first destination. However if you decide it's not a problem, or if it won't stop you from doing your job professionally, then you're welcome to stay. But I don't want you harassing them just because they aren't human. That's a stupid reason and I won't tolerate it on my ship."

"On a lighter note I'll hold a party every Friday night to relax so we don't overwork ourselves. I like to have fun when I can and I extend that to everyone on this ship. So in 10 minutes we'll depart from the Citadel. Finally, I know that I can't replace Captain Anderson. But I'll do my very damn best to make sure we succeed in any mission we sign up for. That's all."

"Well said, Commander. Captain would be proud of you. And I gotta say, Friday nights are looking awesome already," Joker grinned.

"Glad you think so. When the timer is up, take us to Therum in the Knossos system of the Artemis Tau Cluster. I seem to remember someone saying that there was a Prothean ruin there," I ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Joker replied.

"Nice speech. And I reckon no-one, not even Pressley, will say anything about Tali, Garrus or Wrex now," Dawn smiled as we walked slowly down the corridor to the Galaxy Map.

"I sure hope so," I replied.

"So what's the plan for these Friday nights?" she asked.

"The usual. Music, dancing, food, talking, drinking, that kinda stuff. Of course we're listening to my music," I replied.

"Sounds good to me. You're lucky we like the same kinds of music or I would have to insist that some of my music be played," she grinned.

"We practically had the same music library on iTunes before coming here. If either of us got something new, we would share it," I said. "So I'm pretty sure there's not going to be an issue there."

"Am I allowed music requests?"

"Sure."

"Let's go talk to the others while we wait," Dawn suggested. I nodded in agreement and we made our way down to the crew deck. As we passed people, each one, even Pressley, said that they would stay on the ship and see this mission through to the end even if I was allying myself up with aliens. This made me smile as I knew Tali and Garrus would prove themselves trustworthy to the crew and they would see that and accept them. Wrex, however, might be a different story. But I assured myself that it would all work out in the end.

* * *

><p>"So this is my cabin? Bitchin' deal! Just need to convert it to a bachelor pad now!" I grinned as I looked around. It was an alright cabin, but I was looking forward to the cabin I would get when the SR-2 was finished.<p>

Starting from the door, there was a small desk with a holographic monitor to the right. Then more into the room was a round table with two chairs surrounding it. Then there was a larger desk and holographic monitor and finally there was the bed. The bed certainly looked much more comfortable than in the game, and I confirmed the softness of the bed by laying down on it.

"I don't think so. This is half mine too, you know," Dawn replied with a serious look at me.

"But there's only one bed. And I ain't sleeping in a chair, thank you very much," I stated.

"Well we'll share the bed. No big deal," she replied with a smile.

"W-what? S-share the b-bed?" I asked nervously.

"Sure. It's not like we haven't done it before," she replied.

"That was just the one time before I bought a spare bed for you to crash at my place," I argued. I still remembered that night vividly. We had shared my Queen sized bed for the night and had kept to our predetermined sides. I didn't get any sleep that night from constantly thinking of the red haired friend with the supermodel level of hotness sleeping just inches away from me. Perverted thoughts flooded my mind the whole night and I swear I had a perpetual boner the entire time.

"Oh stop being such a wuss! We're only going to sleep next to each other, nothing more," she replied with a huff as she turned around so I wouldn't catch the blush she had on her cheeks.

'The problem is, I want to do so much more than just sleep next to you. Man, my restraint is going to be stretched to the maximum, but I won't break!' I resolved in my mind. "Fine, if you're sure you're ok with sharing the bed with me," I replied out loud.

She turned around and smiled. "Sure I'm sure. When we return to the Citadel we can buy an extra bed if you're still uncomfortable by then."

"Ok. I gotcha," I replied. I then sat down again and began to take off my armour, Dawn doing the same. Underneath we still wore the same clothes from when we woke up on the Citadel. Dawn noticed her cleavage showing this time and pulled the zipper up so she preserved some modesty.

I sighed. 'How am I gonna survive Dawn, never mind Saren?' I asked myself silently.

* * *

><p>"Hey Garrus! How's it going?" I called as Dawn and I walked over to him working on the Mako.<p>

"Not too bad. Thanks for bringing me along, Commander," he thanked.

"No sweat. You're a good shot and I always could go with a Sniper buddy," I replied.

"I knew working with a Specter would be better than life at C-Sec," he chuckled.

"Specters get more action," Dawn agreed.

"Plus we get all the ladies," I grinned widely with Dawn rolling her eyes.

"A good a reason as any," Garrus chuckled in agreement.

"So, did you work with any Spectres before me?" I asked.

"Well, no. But I know what they're like," he replied. "Spectres make their own rules. You're free to handle things your way. At C-Sec, you're buried by rules. The damn bureaucrats are always on your back. "

"I feel for you. Rules are needed, but sometimes you need to know when to bend them, or break them, to get the job done," I replied.

"Exactly. But one can't do that in C-Sec. We needed to enforce the rules by following them ourselves. It sometimes felt like the rules were only there to stop me from doing my work. If I'm trying to take down a suspect, it shouldn't matter how I do it, as long as I do it. But C-Sec wants it done their way. Protocol and procedure come first. That's why I left," Garrus explained.

"What about harming and killing civilians to get to your quarry? That's something I'll never do. For me, the safety of the innocent come first before the capture of my suspect," I replied.

"You've got a point there, Commander," he replied.

"But you're somewhat right. Protocol can be a pain in the butt, especially when you're trying to track someone down," Dawn added and I nodded in agreement.

"So is that the only reason you quit?" I asked.

"It didn't start out bad, but as I rose in ranks, I got saddled with more and more red tape. C-Sec's handling of Saren was typical. I just couldn't take it anymore. I hate leaving…" Garrus trailed off.

"But you figure you can do much more good if you're out fighting with us in the thick of things?" I asked.

"Yeah," the reptilian alien nodded.

"Well, I hope you don't come to regret it," I replied. "But I'm glad you're fighting with us."

"Well, that's sort of why I teamed up with you and your crew. It's a chance for me to get off the Citadel and see how it's done outside of C-Sec." He paused. "Either way, I plan to make the most of this. And without C-Sec headquarters looking over my shoulder, well, maybe I can get the job done my way for a change."

"But it's not going to be your way. It's going to be either my way or Dawn's way. Seems to me you just traded one set of rules for another," I pointed out. "We get the job done right, not fast."

"I wasn't trying to—I understand, Commander," he apologised.

"S'okay, Garrus. We certainly have a lot less rules than C-Sec, so it won't be all that bad," I grinned.

"Sure thing, Commander," he nodded.

"So whacha up to?" Dawn asked.

"Just doing some calibrations on the Mako here," he replied as he got back to his work. Dawn and I shook our heads at how predictable he was. Garrus loved his calibrations. There were plenty of jokes about Garrus and his calibrations on the internet, and most of them were funny.

"Commander, the ten minutes are up and no-one has left. Shall I drive us to the relay?" Joker asked through my Omnitool.

"Go ahead, Joker," I replied with a smile, glad that everyone had decided to stay.

* * *

><p>"Hey Ashley!" Dawn called as we walked over to her.<p>

"Commander, Lieutenant," she greeted respectfully.

"Feel up to chatting?" I asked.

"Sorry, Commander. I need to get my duties squared away," she replied apologetically. "How bout later?"

"Sure thing, Ashley," I nodded.

* * *

><p>"Hey Wrex," I greeted the large battle scarred krogan.<p>

"Nice ship you've got, Kitsuné," Wrex said.

"Ahh, I bet you've already found several weak points already," I replied with a grin.

The krogan barked a laugh, "Indeed. So, what can I do for you two?"

"What's your story, Wrex? If you feel like sharing," I asked.

"There's no story," he replied. There was a pause. "Go ask the quarian if you want stories."

"I'll hit up Tali in a minute. But you guys live for centuries. Sure you don't have an interesting battle tale or an adventure itching to be shared?" I asked.

"Well, there was this one time the turians almost wiped out our entire race. That was fun," he replied.

"You know, sarcasm is the quickest way to establish that you're a jackass," I replied.

"Hmph… You've got a point there," he replied with a grin.

"So you're gonna keep dodging my efforts to strike up a meaningful conversation with you?" I asked.

Wrex sighed. "Well, I've given up on the krogan long ago. I assume you know about the genophage?"

"Sure. A virus developed by the salarians and deployed by the turians as a countermeasure to halt the krogan population boom and stop a possible war with the krogans. Kinda drastic if you ask me," I answered.

"…You're an interesting human, Kitsuné. There are not many non-krogan people who think that way," he replied, a small amount of surprise in his voice. "Well, the genophage infected us, but it's not what's killing us," he added.

"What is?" Dawn asked.

"We're too spread out. None of us are interested in staying in our own system. While with other species that's a good thing, it's not so for krogan. We don't go out to colonise new worlds. We're not settlers. We're warriors. We want to fight. So we leave. Hire ourselves out. And most of us never go back," he answered. "As for the genophage, you'd have to ask a salarian. All I know: it makes breeding nearly impossible. Thousands die in stillbirth, and most never get that far. Every krogan is infected. Every one. And no one's rushing to find a cure."

"No krogan try to find the cure?" Dawn asked.

"When was the last time you saw a krogan scientists?" Wrex replied.

"Point," she grinned embarrassed.

"You ask a krogan: would he rather find a cure for the genophage or fight for credits? He'll choose fighting every time. It's just who we are, Kissane. I can't change that. Nobody can," he said.

"Seems that the only way a cure will be created is through outside help," I replied.

"That's right. And I doubt that'll happen anytime soon," he sighed.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Commander, Lieutenant," Adams greeted. He then motioned for us to follow him and we moved to a quiet corner. "You know that quarian? Tali? She's been spending all her time down here asking me about our engines."<p>

"Is that ok? She's not annoying you, is she?" I asked.

"What? No! She's amazing! I wish my guys were half as smart as she is. Give her a month on board and she'll know more about our engines than I do!" he replied with a warm smile. "She's got a real knack for tech, that one. I can see why you wanted her to come along."

"She can also kick ass when it counts," I grinned.

"Well you really have got an eye for spotting talent, Commander. But I'm guessing that's not why you came down here," he said.

"Well we were gonna chat with her," I replied.

"Well don't let me stop you. Give her something else to talk about than this ship," he said.

"Hey! Tali!" I called and waved at her. She looked up and waved back as we walked over to her.

"Your ship's amazing, Kitsuné! I've never seen a drive core like this before. I can't believe you were able to fit it into a ship this small," she said as we sidled up next to her.

"Yep, it is an awesome ship. Perfect for a Commander of Awesomeness like me!" I grinned widely. Tali giggled as Dawn shook her head in amusement.

"I'm starting to understand why you humans have been so successful. I had no idea Alliance vessels were so advanced," she said.

"Normandy's a prototype. Cutting edge. It'll be a while until the Alliance upgrades the rest of their ships with drive cores like this baby," I replied.

"A month ago, I was patching a makeshift fuel line into a converted tug ship in the flotilla. Now I'm sitting on board one of the most advanced vessels in Citadel space," she said, sounding like she couldn't believe her luck.

"Funny how life works out, huh," I smiled.

"Absolutely. I have to thank you for bringing me along. Traveling on a ship like this is a dream come true for me," she said.

"So you're into ships? That's cool," I nodded.

"It comes with being a quarian. The Migrant Fleet is the key to the survival of my people, as you seem to be already aware. Ships are our most valuable resource," she replied.

"So you can have more space, right?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah. But we don't have anything like this. We make do with cast-offs and second-hand equipment. We just try to keep them running for as long as we can. Some of the Fleet's larger vessels date all the way back to our original flight from the geth," she explained.

"Damn… that's an old ship," I whistled. "You guys must be damn good engineers to keep the ship running for over 300 years."

"Well they are constantly being repaired, modified and refitted. They aren't pretty, but they work. Mostly," she replied.

"Well eventually wear and tear gets a bit too much to be simply repaired," I said.

"That's true, but it rarely happens. We've tried to make ourselves as independent as possible on the flotilla. Grow our own food, mine and process our own fuel. But some things we just can't make on our own. A patch to maintain the hull integrity requires raw materials we just don't have. That's why our Pilgrimages are so important," she explained.

"So I'm interested in knowing more about your people, unless you're as tight lipped as the other quarians I've talked to in the past," I asked.

"Well, it's not an easy life. Resources are scarce and we are constantly on the move. Everything we do must in some way contribute to the continuation of the Migrant Fleet," she said.

"You kinda sound like our gypsies on Earth. They were close communities of people always travelling around the countryside. Mostly independent from the rest of society, they would live off the land. When they needed to acquire goods they couldn't simply grow or make themselves, they bought them whenever they came into towns or villages and put up a show of music and dance to earn money," I explained.

"Well, that is similar, just remove the music and dance bits. We work on our Pilgrimage to earn the money needed to buy ships or materials needed. There are seventeen million quarians in the flotilla, and each of us relies on the others for survival. The bonds among my people are strong," she said.

"That's nice," I smiled.

"Unfortunately, we have had to surrender many of the freedoms and civil liberties other species take for granted," she added.

"I can see that happening. Like population growth restrictions," I reasoned.

"Exactly. It's illegal for parents to have more than one child for this reason. However the law is temporally lifted if the population number dips too much. In extreme cases of population decline, incentives are even offered to encourage multiple births. Though the Conclave hasn't had to take such measures in nearly a century," she explained.

"What kind of incentives?" Dawn asked.

"Usually funds and resources to support the extra children. Sometimes a mistress or two," she replied.

"Nice!" I grinned widely, until Dawn bonked me over the head.

"Mind out of the gutter, Josh!" she growled.

"But Dawn," I replied, instantly recovered and sporting a sly smile. "How can I get my mind out of the gutter, when it is the gutter?"

The red head palmed her face and sighed. "Can't you be a bit more mature in front of others?" she asked.

"Oh come on Dawn, you know me better than to behave how everyone expects me to behave," I replied.

She sighed again before smiling. "I guess you're right."

I was then alerted to the sound of someone laughing. We turned to see Tali slightly bent over and giggling madly. "Ha ha ha! You're not what I pictured as the first human Spectre… ha ha ha!" she laughed. Dawn and I looked at each other before we began to laugh alongside her.

After a minute we calmed down enough to engage in conversation once again. "So the Conclave is your government?" I asked as I leaned up against the control board, making sure my bum was well away from anything that looked important.

"It's our Civilian branch. Each ship can elect a representative to serve on the Conclave and make decisions that affect the fleet as a whole," she clarified. "On matters that affect an individual ship, however, the captain has the final say. It's a tradition that dates back to the early days when the fleet was governed by martial law. Fortunately, most captains nowadays are smart enough to have an elected council from their crew to give them advice and guidance."

"Sounds like a smart idea. Maybe I should do the same?" I wondered, more to myself than anyone.

"I think you do a good enough job by yourself with me helping every now and them. Besides, with the party announcement stunt you pulled a little while ago, I think most of the crew would only vote for you anyways," Dawn said.

"I guess. What's today, Monday? When we've got some free time I reckon we should stock up on food and drink to get ready for Friday," I reasoned.

"Should've thought of that when we were still on the Citadel and not flying halfway across the galaxy," Dawn muttered.

"It was a spur of the moment kinda thing! I would've bought party supplies if I had thought about it sooner. I also would have bought some bloody couches and comfy chairs for this ship too. All the chairs around here are stiff and uncomfortable. We can convert that spare room behind the med lab into a lounge room!" I grinned, already loving the idea.

"Not a bad idea. Maybe buy a poker table as well?" Dawn suggested with a smile as well.

"Hell yeah!" I nodded. "Think we can grab the stuff after finding Liara?"

"I don't see why not. It would save us the trouble of finding the time later to do so," she replied.

"Sounds like fun," Tali said.

"Do you know how to play poker?" I asked.

She nodded her head. "I know Skillian 5," she replied.

"Excellent!" I replied with a grin as I flicked through my MEU self's memories of the game. Skillian 5 was nothing more than a modern named Texas Hold'em.

Apparently the history of how this poker game swept through the entire galaxy started when two alien friends, a batarian and a turian, visited a human friend they met over the extranet, on Elysium shortly after the new colonies started to flourish. Over a round of drinks, the human decided the night needed a bit of livening up and so offered a game of Texas Hold'em. After about an hour of explaining the rules, the three finally got down to playing a proper game. Naturally the human, who had experience that towered over the other two, won most of the games, with a few rounds going to the aliens out of beginner's luck.

The next day the batarian and the turian left their friend, but not before they downloaded the complete rules from an extranet site their friend had directed them to. After that, it only took 10 years for the game to fully explode onto the galactic community. However, most aliens had no idea what Texas meant and even more didn't know it was a country on Earth. So soon after the game began to circulate around the different races, a group of the best players from each race came together and renamed the game into something more recognisable. None of them knew that the game had semi-originated from Elysium but they knew it had come from somewhere in the Skyllian Verge. So they named it for the system and number of cards used at any one time in a hand.

And so Skyllian 5 Poker was born.

Naturally human card players all over the Traverse were not pleased that their card game had been stolen from them, in a sense. It took 5 years to convince the newly established Sky 5 Council that the game was a human created game. Finally the Council acknowledged that humans were the creators of the game, if only to just shut them up from all their incessant whining. Nowadays Skillian 5 was an officially recognised human card gambling game, but most aliens chose to ignore this fact in favour of simply enjoying the game for what it was; a good way to have fun, because the idea that mere humans had created such a wondrous, fun and addicting game, soured the fun for the aliens for some reason.

"So, we were talking about how the captain and elected council on each ship set the rules for their ship," Dawn spoke up, waking me from skimming through the history of the game. "Does that mean that the ultimate power rests with elected officials?"

"In practise," Tali admitted. "The Conclave and the respective council for each ship tend to set the rules that govern our daily lives. But in theory we are still under military jurisdiction. The five top-ranking military officials in the fleet serve on the Admiralty Board. These five have the power to overrule any decision by the Conclave in case of emergency. To do so requires unanimous agreement among the five admirals. And they can only do this once. After that, the entire Board must resign their posts. It's a safeguard that's served us well. In nearly three centuries, the Admiralty Board has only overruled the Conclave four times."

"Good thing it doesn't happen often, otherwise you'd run out of Admirals quickly," I said. "So, can you tell me more about the geth?" I knew this was going to be a painful topic to discuss, but it needed to be discussed.

"I doubt I can tell you anything more than what you already know. It's been almost three centuries since they drove my people into exile," she replied with a small amount of sadness in her voice. "All I know is the story of their origins, what they were when we created them, and how they turned on us." Her voice became bitter towards the end.

"If you're too uncomfortable with talking about this then we can talk about something else. I know this must be a sore spot for you," I said gently.

"No, it's ok. There might be something I can tell you to help us in our mission," she replied before taking a deep breath. "The geth were originally created to serve as an automated manual labour force. Initially, their intelligence level was as limited as a typical VI. Over time, we made small modifications to their programming to allow them to perform more varied and complex tasks, slowly bringing them closer and closer to true AI status."

"I guess you were flirting closely with that particular line if the Council didn't see this as illegal AI research," I mentioned.

"We were indeed. The changes were so insignificant, so gradual, that we were able to control them. Or so we thought. But one thing we underestimated was the power of the neural network. A million geth thinking simultaneously created an inherently unstable matrix," she began to explain.

"Gonna have to tell you to dumb it down a bit more," I interjected. "I get that the geth share processing power over this network, but how does that make it unstable?"

"Sorry. When I said unstable, I meant in a way we didn't foresee. As groups of geth clustered together, the network grows larger, freeing up processing capacity for original or independent thought. As we built more and more geth, their effective intelligence became more sophisticated, more abstract. Eventually, one geth started asking its quarian overseer questions about the nature of its existence. Things like, 'Am I alive?', 'Why am I here?' and 'What is my purpose?'"

"Guess that must've freaked out the quarian," Dawn stated.

"Yes, it caused a near-panic among my people," agreed Tali. "If we were having sentient beings work for us, then we were essentially using them as slaves. It was inevitable the newly-sentient geth would rebel against their situation. We knew they would rise up against us. So we acted first. A general order went out across all quarian controlled systems to permanently deactivate all geth. The geth responded to this order violently."

"You were trying to commit genocide to them. You can't blame them for fighting for their survival," I said.

"We had no other choice!" Tali replied heatedly. "The geth were already on the verge of revolution. By acting quickly, we had a chance to end the war before it began. The hope was that most of the geth would still be little more than machines, incapable of organised resistance. But they had progressed much further than anyone anticipated. What followed was the Morning War. And it was long and bloody. Millions upon millions of quarians died at their hands. In the end, we were forced to flee our own homeworld. We feared the geth would pursue us, but they never came beyond the Veil. Now we drift through space, exiles searching for a way to retake what was once ours."

"Going to war was a mistake. Your ancestors should've tried to confirm that the geth really were going to rebel. But they were probably scared of the worst case scenario of what could happen and acted from there, but in the end only creating a self-fulfilling prophecy in which your people paid a hefty price," I said. I saw her eyes flash angrily at me and quickly bowed my head. "I apologise if I offended you or your people, Tali. I was just voicing an opinion that takes no sides. Forgive me."

I looked to see the quarian hesitating on biting my head off. She then sighed and shook her head. "No need to apologise. I forgot that you aren't a quarian. It's a very sore spot for all our people. Perhaps you are right, but we are too steeped in our pain from the past to think these things through," she replied evenly.

"This won't stop me from kicking the flashlight in on each geth that tries to kill me. But if I ever meet a geth that's willing to talk with me instead of shooting me, then I'm going to talk right back to it, ok?" I asked.

"I very much doubt it will ever happen, but I suppose stranger things have happened in this galaxy," she replied.

"That's the spirit!" I grinned. "So how bout we get off this gloomy topic and you tell me more about the Pilgrimage."

"Sure," she replied, sounding relieved and happy we were now talking about something else. "When my people reach maturity, we leave our birth ships and seek acceptance with a new crew. It's necessary to maintain genetic diversity among the fleet. But no ship wants to accept someone who will be a burden on them. So, to prove our worth, we embark on a Pilgrimage. We set out alone, leaving the flotilla and our families behind us. We only return once we have found something of value we can bring back to the fleet. This is presented as a gift to the captain of the respective ship we wish to serve on. If the gift is accepted, we are welcome into the crew."

"Does any captain reject the gift?" Dawn asked.

"Uh, that doesn't happen often. Most captains are eager to increase the size of their crew. It increases their own standing in our society. Even when a gift is not particularly valuable, the captain will still accept it out of a sense of tradition. But there is a stigma to presenting a sub-standard gift."

"Let me guess, cleaning or guard duty," I replied as memories that weren't personally mine flashed through my mind. Cleaning and guard duty were the two worst jobs in any military body.

"No, more like not being popular amongst the crew of your ship. It doesn't leave a good impression. Most Pilgrims don't return until they find something worthwhile," she explained.

"Do they train you before throwing you out into the galaxy?" I asked.

"Yes. Lessons in how to survive are taught by elders, and we receive gifts to help us on our journey. We also receive implants to fight off sickness and disease. Generations of living in an isolated and highly controlled environment have left our immune systems weaker than most. By the time we leave the fleet, we are well-equipped for the Pilgrimage. This is a rite of passage for all quarians. If it were dangerous, our numbers would suffer. Virtually every Pilgrimage ends with a triumphant return and the ritual presentation of the gift to one of the fleet's captains."

"Sounds cool. Well we've got to continue with the rounds. Keep on getting acquainted with all the crew. We'll catch you later, ok?" I asked.

"Sure thing, Kitsuné. See you later," she replied.

"You know, you can call me Josh, Tali," I suggested.

"Ok, if you're sure," she replied.

"Sure I'm sure. Right Dawn?" I asked.

"Yeah. You can call me Dawn as well, Tali. We're friends," she smiled.

"Ok then, Josh, Dawn, see you two later," she replied and I could tell she was smiling.

* * *

><p>"Commander, there's a message coming through from the Council. I've already linked us up to the network," Joker messaged me on my Omnitool.<p>

"Thanks Joker," I replied as Dawn and I made our way to the conference room. "Did they decide to start harassing me already?"

"I guess we'll find out," Dawn replied.

We entered the room and I pressed a button to accept the call from the other end. After a second the holographic images of Tevos, Valern and Sparatus were constructed.

"Hello. Do you need something?" I asked respectfully.

"We wanted to speak with you off the record, Commander," Sparatus said.

"About?" I inquired.

"The Reapers," Valern answered.

I sighed. "You've decided to ignore what I've said and stick your heads in the sand, haven't you?" I asked. 'I knew it was too good to be true!' I cursed in my head.

"On the contrary, we are giving you the chance to find evidence of their existence and possible return in the future," Tevos answered.

I blinked. "Really?" I asked.

"Indeed," Sparatus nodded. "Thankfully we have the power to cut out certain parts of our meetings and we just did so when we discussed the Reapers. The records now say that we accepted the proof of Saren's turning and your induction into the Spectres. If these Reapers are real, then we need to keep it quiet for as long as possible."

"You sound like you now believe me despite having no hard evidence," I noted.

"Well the more I think on what you said about the geth's thinking system and their belief on the Reapers, the more I'm starting to think you may be right. But a little hard evidence would be nice though," Sparatus replied.

"So you are tasked with a secondary objective. If Saren is working with the Reapers, then you are to record or analyse any evidence you find before reporting it in," Valern ordered.

"We all pray you are wrong about this, Kitsuné. But we are not foolish enough to dismiss this possible galactic threat when the clues are there for all to see. The Reaper theory is the only theory that makes sense of the sudden disappearance of the Protheans. And then there are the points you made in your case. So we await any news you uncover on the subject. We won't act until we have the proof we need," Tevos explained.

"I'm just grateful that you're taking this seriously and are willing to give me a chance once again to bring the evidence needed," I replied.

"You proved us wrong, Commander. We will not make the same mistake a second time," Sparatus said with a nod toward me.

"Where are you currently headed?" Tevos asked.

"I'm tracking down Liara T'Soni, Benezia's daughter," I answered.

"Are you sure about that, Commander? Liara may share her mother's thoughts on Saren," Valern warned.

"If she does, then we plan to capture her before the geth and Saren do. But if she doesn't, then we'll need her help in the upcoming battles. Not to mention she can help me un-jumble my vision," I explained.

"Very well, Kitsuné. You are a Spectre now. What you do when not on a mission from us is up to you. We hope the result of your mission is a favourable one," Tevos replied before the Council cut the transmission.

"Well, it's official. The Council are not the idiotic dumbasses from the games," I smiled. "Hopefully this will make things easier for us in the long run."


	10. Chapter 10: The Asari Damsel in Distress

**Chapter 10: The Asari Damsel in Distress**

"We're now entering the Hades Gamma Cluster on our way to the Artemis Tau Cluster," Joker reported as I walked to stand behind him.

"Right. Hopefully it won't take us too long to find the right ruins that Liara is at," I replied.

There was a sudden beeping and Joker looked up to a red light pulsing. "Looks like we've got an incoming message. You want to take it here or at the map?" Joker asked.

"I'll take it at the map," I replied before jogging over to the Galaxy Map.

"Commander. I'm glad you were in the area," a voice filtered through the comm and I recognised it as Admiral Steven Hackett. "We've got an emergency situation, and you're the only one I trust to get the job done."

"What's the job, Admiral?" I asked.

"Biotic fanatics have hit a medical research station with a psychotropic drug. The drugs have temporally driven researchers crazy and the biotics are effectively using them as human shields," he explained.

"So no shooting like crazy, right? Finesse is needed," I replied.

"Exactly. A normal team could handle the biotics, but a lot of innocent researchers would die during the operation. That's why I contacted you. I'm hoping that you can keep the casualties to a minimum," Hackett stated.

"I'll do what I can to bring those researchers back safely, Admiral," I promised.

"I know you will, Commander," the Admiral replied. The signal suddenly distorted as data was transmitted along with the voice. "I'm sending you the station coordinates now. Fifth Fleet out." The transition was cut.

"Continue to Artemis Tau, Joker. We'll help those researchers out after we rescue Liara," I notified the pilot.

"Rodger that, Commander," he replied.

I then paused. 'Doesn't that mission pop up after you reach 80% Paragon? Wonder why I got it so soon?' I wondered. I then shrugged. 'Meh, doesn't matter anyways.'

* * *

><p>"FuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUCCCKKK!" I yelled as I felt myself plummeting out of the Normandy and freefalling a few hundred feet before the stabilizer boosters kicked in and the Mako righted itself before impacting the ground and bouncing hard a bit before coming to a complete stop.<p>

I looked at Dawn, whose face was as white as a ghost. I was willing to bet that mine was the same. "Well that was… fun," I replied with a nervous chuckle. I had no idea on what to expect when I would be shot out of the back of the ship in the Mako. Turns out that the inertial dampeners on the vehicle only made sure we wouldn't die on impact and did nothing to rid the feeling of your stomach being pushed to the top of your body and the heavy jolting of the landing.

"Yeah… fun," Dawn replied as colour seeped back into her face.

"You two alright?" Kaiden asked from the back.

"Uhh, yeah, sure we are," I replied quickly. I was glad that I had the knowledge to drive this thing so I shifted the Mako into the correct gear and pressed the acceleration. What I didn't expect was for the Mako to shoot forward suddenly as if I was driving for the first time. And I had 5 years of driving experience already back home.

"AAAAHHHHH! WHAT THE HELL!?" Dawn screamed out as I put on the breaks and we jolted to a halt.

"You're driving sucks, Josh!" Tali yelled angrily as she picked herself off the ground in the back.

"It's not me, it's this stupid machine!" I replied before a memory flashed into my head of Garrus working on the Mako.

"Garrus! What the hell kind of calibrations did you do to this thing?" I asked.

"Just amped up the speed, braking and handling, that's all, Commander," Garrus replied from his position as the main gunner operating the machine gun and mass accelerator cannon.

"Next time warn me of any tweak ups please," I replied as I accelerated, a lot softly this time, and we began to move forward easily this time.

"Commander, I'm picking up some strange readings. Really strange. Like, off the damn charts," Joker notified me through the intercom. "It looks like it's coming from an underground complex a few klicks away from the drop zone."

"Josh is a little preoccupied driving at the moment, but thanks for the heads up, Joker," Dawn replied.

"Thanks," I said through gritted teeth as I drove the Mako very gently. I needed all my concentration on this. The suspension on this thing was nuts. Every little bump I ran over made us catch some reasonable air and it was hard to steer while in the air.

"Sure thing," she replied.

For about five minutes we went without incident. Until a geth drop ship blasted over our heads. "Ok Garrus, time to show us your skills!" I yelled as I continued ahead.

"I've got this!" he replied as he swivelled the cannon and gun slightly, pointing to where the drop ship had stopped and was preparing to drop geth in front of us. He let off a round and it shredded the first Geth Armature into pieces even before it had hit the ground.

"Whoo! Nice one!" I congratulated. The second Armature was quickly overwhelmed by machine gun fire.

We continued on. It wasn't long before we came across a stronghold with three Geth Heavy Turrets blocking the way.

"Oh shit!" I swore as I twisted the steering wheel to the left and waited as Garrus began to fire at the turrets.

"I don't think it's a good idea going head to head with those things!" Kaiden cried out.

"Relax! Those things may fire rockets, but they only move in a straight line and move very slowly. I'll just move us out of the way and let Garrus handle the turrets," I replied.

And that's exactly what happened. After another five minutes, all three turrets were destroyed. "I don't think we'll be able to get past that wall anyways." I stood up and opened a small manhole above me. I looked around and saw an alternate path. I closed the manhole and sat in my seat again. "There's a path to the right of us that looks like it'll work its way around this wall. Garrus, be ready. I doubt the geth would leave such an obvious path unguarded."

As predicted, another Geth Heavy turret blocked our way on the path. But it was quickly taken care of and we continued forward. We entered the stronghold and Garrus went nuts on the geth inside the base. A few rockets and bullet fire impacted the Mako, but the shields withstood the brief onslaught long enough for Garrus to take care of them all.

After getting out and activating the gate controls needed, we got back in the Mako and continued forward. We came across a few more geth blocking he path, but after ridding them, including one where I simply drove right into it and sent it flying into the lava, we moved on. When we came across a Geth Colossus, we implemented the same strategy for when we took out the Heavy Turrets. After five minutes of Garrus blasting it and me dodging the kinetic energy blasts it fired at us, we reached a tunnel.

We were met with two Geth Rocket Troopers on the other side, but they were dealt with quickly enough. In the second tunnel there were more geth, and this group was a little harder to deal with, since there wasn't much room to maneuver with. But we came out on top and continued on.

"Jeez, aren't we there yet?" I asked loudly.

"Not too much longer now," Dawn replied as Garrus blasted three geth with a single cannon shot.

Just then we came across a bunch of rocks that we simply couldn't drive over. There was a small gap in the middle. "Guess we continue on foot from here," I said as Kaiden opened the side door to let everyone out.

We continued on and ran into several geth guarding the path. They were dealt with quickly through well-coordinated strikes. Soon we came across a construction area.

"Stay vigilant. This looks like it's a good place for an ambush," I warned before I spotted something. It was one of those Geth Ghosts above us clinging to some scaffolding. I took out my sniper rifle and blasted a round through its chest, creating a sizable hole, which dropped the geth to the ground. However we couldn't pause for breath as four more geth dropped from the sky, including an Armature.

"Scatter!" I ordered and we spread out. "Take the small ones first before concentrating on the big guy!" I then proceeded to snipe a Geth Sniper in the head.

Tali got a second Ghost with her pistol. Kaiden and Dawn took down a second sniper with biotics and Garrus sniped a Rocket Trooper, leaving the Armature.

I then grinned as an idea flew into my head. "Dawn, Kaiden. Can you both use your biotics to pull on the left and right of the Armature respectively?" I asked.

"Sure, but I don't get what you're trying to do-," Kaiden began but Dawn interrupted him.

"Just do it, Kaiden," she replied.

"Right, sure thing," he nodded.

The sight was spectacular to watch. Dawn pulled with her biotics on the right half to the right while Kaiden did the same on the left, to the left. The result was a tug of war with the Armature in the middle. Eventually something had to give. And it did. The geth was ripped apart as the biotic forces pulled the two halves away from each other.

"Booya!" I cried out in victory, slapping Dawn a high-5.

"I gotta say, that was an impressive idea, Commander," Kaiden approved.

"That was amazing!" Tali agreed.

"Truly," Garrus nodded.

"Ok, let's keep moving everyone," I ordered and we moved into the construction site. I saw the entrance to the underground complex Joker had told us about. "There's the entrance," I pointed. "Everyone ready? If the geth were here then they'll definitely be in the ruins already. So stay sharp."

I received a chorus of positive replies. So, without any more words, we entered the complex.

Inside we were faced with a long, circular metal tunnel which was lit by large lights every 10 meters or so. About halfway down our scanners began to go haywire, meaning that geth were jamming the scanning frequency.

"Get ready," I whispered over the com channel inside my helmet, having long since unfolded it.

The first encounter was right at the end of the tunnel. Dawn used her biotics to lift the geth into the air before blasting it backwards with a shotgun round. We made our way down the catwalk, blasting geth as we went. When there was a break in the action, we took a few seconds to look around. The cave we were in was formed in a very strange fashion.

"It looks like this cavern formed around the ruin. After it was built," Tali said as she took in the sights.

"50,000 years is enough time for something like this to happen," Kaiden replied.

We continued on and quickly came across a lift. We took it down and watched as we passed several containment rooms to the side of the elevator.

At the bottom we were attacked by geth assault drones. After several accurate fire from Dawn and I, we pressed on and found another elevator.

Everything went smoothly until there was a large jolt and sparks erupted from around and inside the elevator. "What's going on?" Kaiden asked.

"Seems there's a bug in the system. Either that or the geth tampered with this elevator," Tali replied.

"Probably the later," I said as the elevator came to a sudden halt, three feet from where it would originally have stopped. We vaulted off the edge and down the half destroyed catwalk when I heard a voice.

"Uh… hello? Is somebody there? Could somebody help me? Please?"

We turned down the last corner and saw that a large energy shield had been placed over one of the holes in the ruin. Inside was an asari and there was a shimmering shield of energy surrounding her, levitating in the air.

It was Liara T'Soni. She was very beautiful indeed. The game version of her did not do her justice. "Can you hear me out there? I am trapped. I need help!" she called out. She then settled down and took a good look at us. "Are you… Are you real?" she asked us before smiling to herself. "Oh no, don't be stupid, Liara. Humans do not come here. You're hallucinating," she said to herself. "And talking to yourself. Ha! Oh Goddess, I'm going to die here."

"I dunno what you're smoking, but we certainly are real," I smiled amusedly. "And we are getting you out of here."

"You're oddly lucid for a hallucination. They don't usually claim to be real," she replied, still not sure that we were real. "Or do they? I guess I wouldn't know. I don't usually hallucinate. At least, I don't think I do."

"Ok… how bout we start off slow. My name is Commander Josh Kitsuné. I'm also a Spectre, but it's recent news so you probably haven't heard of the Citadel Council approving the very first human Spectre," I said.

"A Spectre? Ha. That's good. What else would I conjure up? A protector figure. Yes, perfect. Comforting. Well, I'll play along," she resigned, thought it was still clear that she thought we were apparitions created from her mind. Boy, was she going to be embarrassed when we brought down the shield.

"That's a good idea," Dawn agreed.

"As you can see, I am trapped here. If you're as real as you all claim, find a way to get me out," she replied.

"So how did you get yourself in there?" Tali asked.

"Ah, yes. The figments of my imagination want me to retrace my steps. See if I can figure out where I went wrong," Liara replied.

"Whatever makes you happy," Tali muttered quietly and I grinned but didn't laugh.

"I was exploring the ruins. When the geth showed up, I ran here and activated the defences. The barrier curtains could protect me. When I turned it on, I must have hit something I wasn't supposed to. I became trapped in here," she replied.

"Stay calm. We'll bust you outta here, no sweat," I replied with a comforting smile.

"Of course. What good is a hallucination if it can't offer false hope?" the asari replied.

I turned around and showed everyone my massive grin. "What's that for?" Kaiden asked.

"Well, if she becomes part of the crew, this is all becoming great blackmail material," I replied.

Kaiden's mouth opened in shock before shaking his head. "You're evil, Commander."

"Ok, we've got ourselves an asari damsel in distress. Let's go slay the dragon and all go home," I said as I hefted my sniper rifle like I was Ranbo and led the way down to the ground level.

"What?" Tali asked in confusion.

"It's a human cliché saying, don't worry," Dawn replied with an amused smile.

We didn't get halfway down the catwalk when something started shooting at me. I brought up my rifle and pointed the scope at where the shots had come from while the others moved behind me and continued on. I spotted a geth rocket trooper and downed it from a shot to the optics. I then followed the rest of my squad as they took out a Shock Trooper. Another shock trooper rounded the corner but Garrus took care of that one with a shot from his sniper rifle.

"What's this thing?" Kaiden asked as he poked a metal contraption.

"Looks like mining laser controls," Tali noted. "If we activate them, it might blast an opening for us to get to the other side."

"Worth a shot, but let's clear the area first," I suggested before moving forward. There was a loud bang and my shields fluctuated wildly as a sniper round pinged off my kinetic shields.

"Fuck!" I swore before darting behind cover. The shot had come from up ahead. "Garrus, can you circle around and get it?" I asked over the radio.

"Give me a moment," the reply came back. We waited for a few moments before a loud bang rang through the cavern. "Scratch that one," Garrus reported his kill.

"Can you see any more?" I asked.

There was a pause. "None that I can see from here, Commander."

"What about you guys? See any more bogies?"

A few replies of 'no' came back to me.

"Ok. Let's go activate that laser then," I said.

Tali was able to quickly hack her way through the override sequence. The mining laser then activated for a brief moment, but that was all it took to burn through the floor of the cavern and open up an access point to the other side. We walked through the opening and on the other side was the control panel. I touched the metal and a green holographic interface flashed up. Then the platform we were on moved up to show the spot where Liara was. She was still facing the force field and seemed not to notice us.

"So, believe us now?" I asked.

"Now I am hallucinating that you all are inside the tower. I must be getting worse. Earlier, I even imagined I heard thunder," she replied, still not convinced.

"Yeah… that was us. We bore our way through with the mining laser," I sighed.

"You bore through?" she repeated as finally she seemed to believe that she was speaking to real people. "You're real… aren't you?" she asked, hope entering her tone. I nodded. "By the Goddess, you're real!"

"Yep, sure are," I replied. I then walked over to the control panel and deactivated. There was a loud sound as the asari hit the ground with a grunt of pain.

"Sorry. I guess I should have warned you first," I apologised.

What came next surprised me. She stood up and threw her arms around me, crying in relief and joy. I just stood there, not sure how to react in this situation. This never happened in the game, but I guess it was typical for someone who thought they were going to die in isolation, only to be rescued. So I simply patted her awkwardly on the back. After a few more seconds she pulled away.

"I… I'm sorry. I thought you were a hallucination. I thought I was going mad before I died. Please get me out of here. Before more geth show up," she pleaded.

"That's why we're here. I assume you're Liara T'Soni?" I asked.

"Yes, I am. There's an elevator back in the centre of the tower. At least, I think it's an elevator. It should take us out of here. Come on!" she urged. We nodded and all piled on the platform.

"I… I still cannot believe all this. Why would the geth come after me? Do you think Benezia's involved?" she asked as we clambered onto the lift.

"Well you are an expert on the Protheans. Saren's currently looking for a piece of Prothean tech, and would want you to help him find it," Kaiden explained.

"It's called the Conduit," Garrus added.

"The Conduit? But I don't know-" at that point there was a loud crash from above us.

"What the hell was that?" Tali asked in an alarmed voice.

"These ruins aren't stable. That mining laser must have triggered a seismic event," Liara explained.

"Whoops?" I asked with a nervous grin.

"We need to get out of here now!" she urged as she ran over to the controls and began imputing commands.

I tapped a command on my Omnitool to connect my radio to the Normandy. "Joker, we need a pickup immediately. Lock on to my signal and get the Normandy over here. On the double!" I ordered sharply.

"Aye, aye, Commander. Secure and aweigh. ETA eight minutes," Joker replied.

"Any chance of putting on the nitrous there buddy?" I asked. I got no response. At that point the lift began to take us up. Dust and rock fell on the lift as we reached the top. Only for another obstruction to appear.

"Aww shit," I groaned as a small group of geth and a krogan battlemaster stood in front of us. "It's obvious that they're not here to help. Let's waste these idiots!" I cried out before pulling out my handguns and destroying the closest geth to me before I dove for cover. I replaced my handguns with the sniper rifle, poked around the corner and killed off the geth sniper. Meanwhile Garrus and Dawn handled the remaining geth. Kaiden began shooting at the krogan, but he almost seemed to shrug them off.

"We need more powerful stuff to handle him!" I called to Kaiden as he dodged to the side, missing the charge the krogan tried to deal to him. I pulled out a grenade and threw it at one of the boxes that were scattered around. As the krogan lumbered past, the grenade went off and engulfed him in the explosion. He came out of it still standing, but he looked a little worse for wear.

It took a combined effort of biotics and gunfire from all of us, but eventually the krogan battlemaster went down.

On the other side the ceiling was collapsing quickly. I turned around. "Everyone, RUN!" I yelled before we took off. The falling rocks began to loosen the catwalk from the side of the cavern. The whole surface buckled from the impacts.

"The walkway is coming down!" someone yelled.

"Just keep running!" I ordered. Against my better judgement I turned around to see if everyone was getting by, and saw a huge chunk of the ceiling come start to break away. "MOVE!" I shouted as Liara ran past me. I took off behind her, hot on her heels. We reached the entrance tunnel before a wave of dust overwhelmed us. But I continued to run and didn't stop until I saw daylight. And even then I continued to run down the walkway a bit before the adrenaline wore off and I almost collapsed to my knees in exhaustion. But we were safe.

* * *

><p>"Too close, Commander. Ten more seconds and we would've been swimming in molten sulphur," Joker said through the intercom as Kaiden, Ashley, Dawn, Tali, Garrus, Wrex and our newest addition, Liara, met up in the conference room. The pilot was referring to the lava eruption that happened seconds after the Normandy had left the site with us inside. It was indeed a close call. "The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference."<p>

"We almost died out there and your pilot is making jokes?" Liara asked incredulously.

"He tends to do that," Dawn replied.

"They may be bad, but he saved our asses. If continuing to rely on his top class piloting skills means we need to put up with the joking, then that's a good trade off in my books," I explained.

"I see. It must be a human thing. I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species, Commander," the asari replied. "But I am grateful to you. All of you. You saved my life back there. And not just from the volcano. Those geth would have killed me. Or dragged me off to Saren."

"Saren knows that you are a one of the top Prothean experts in the galaxy. He's looking for a piece of Prothean tech called the Conduit. Do you know of it?" Kaiden asked.

"Only that it was somehow connected to the Prothean extinction. That is my area of expertise. I have spent the past fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them," she replied.

"How old are you anyways?" Dawn asked.

"I hate to admit it, but I am only 106," she replied embarrassedly.

"Damn! I hope I look that good when I'm your age," Ashley grinned.

"Don't we all," Dawn agreed with her own grin.

"A century may seem like a long time to a short-lived species like yours. But among the asari, I am barely considered more than a child," Liara explained.

"That's gotta put up quite the blockade when trying to get your theories proven to the galactic community, I bet," I noted.

"You're right. My research has not received the attention it deserves. Because of my youth, other asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on what happened to the Protheans," she agreed.

"Well, interested in learning the truth about it?" I asked.

"Excuse me?" she replied, confused.

"The demise… or rather mass genocide of the Protheans," I clarified.

"With all due respect, Commander," Liara replied with a very slight haughtiness creeping into her tone, "I have heard every theory out there." The tone probably came from her fifty year study experience. I didn't blame her for it, but it partially annoyed me. "The problem is finding evidence to support them. The Protheans left remarkably little behind. It is almost as if someone did not want the mystery solved. It's like someone came along after the Protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues. But here is the incredible part."

Here Liara leaned forward, as if about to divulge some deep, dark secret. "According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish. The cycle began long before them."

"Must've taken some intense in-depth sifting to find that out," Dawn said.

"I thought there wasn't any evidence," Ashley asked.

"I have been working on this for fifty years. I have tracked down every scrap and shred of evidence. Eventually, subtle patterns start to emerge. Patterns that hint at the truth," Liara explained. She then paused. "It is difficult to explain to someone else. I cannot point to one specific thing to prove my case. It is more of a feeling derived from a half century of dedicated research. But I know I'm right. And eventually, I will be able to prove it. There were other civilizations before the Protheans. This cycle has repeated itself many times over."

"I wonder who the first were," Tali pondered.

"I don't know. There is barely any evidence on the Protheans. Even less on those who came before them. I cannot prove my theory. But I know I am right!" Liara replied. "The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction. Each time a great civilization rises up, it is suddenly and violently cast down. Only ruins survive. The Protheans rose up from a single world until their empire spanned the galaxy. Yet even they climbed to the top on the remains of those that came before. Their greatest achievements - the mass relays and the Citadel – are based on the technology of those who came before them. And then, like the other forgotten civilizations throughout galactic history, the Protheans disappeared. I have dedicated my life to figuring out why."

"Well we've landed ourselves on the truth, or I have. They were eradicated by a race of sentient machines. They are known as the Reapers. Whether that is their true name, or one given to them through the ages, remains unknown," I explained.

"The… The Reapers? But I have never heard of… How do you know this? What evidence do you have?" the asari asked, but it sounded like a demand.

"Settle down; I'll tell you," I replied gently. "On a recent mission to Eden Prime to transport a recently unearthed Prothean beacon, I came in contact with it and it burned a vision of events into my mind. The information is disjointed and there are gaps in the vision, as if I only received part of it or some of the information is locked from access somehow."

"A beacon? Yes. That makes sense. But the beacons were not programmed to interact with human physiology. I am surprised you were able to make any sense of it at all," Liara replied, both surprised and impressed.

"I'm just that awesome I guess," I grinned in a cheesy manner. A few laughs were voiced before we fell silent again. "So, come do your mind meld thing with me and see for yourself," I said as I moved my hand in a quick 'come hither' gesture.

"Uhh… ok. I see what it is you want me to try and do. Maybe my knowledge will help clarify your vision," she nodded and stood up.

"Let's do this," I said as I walked over to stand roughly two feet from her. I took this chance to study her face a bit more. Since she had no hair anywhere, her eyebrows were painted on. Her eyes were a greyish blue and there was purple pigmentation around her eyes. The rest of her face was a beautiful shade of sky blue, except for her lips which were a shade of purple, as if she was wearing lipstick. But I knew this wasn't the case as she had only recently been plucked from her dig site so she wouldn't bother with such cosmetics.

"Relax, Commander," she said as she closed her eyes. I did the same and all went black.

"Embrace Eternity!"

I then felt a wonderful sensation as a feeling of a foreign, but pleasant entity seemed to meld with my mind. But then the images came hard and fast as Liara probed the vision. The onslaught continued for another 30 seconds before Liara separated herself from me, breathing a little hard.

"That was… incredible! All this time. All my research. Yet I… I never dreamed…," she panted out as she got her bearings back. "I am sorry. The images were so vivid. I-I never imagined the experience would be so… intense."

"Heh, you should have seen it the first time I went through it. Bloody knocked me unconscious for several hours," I replied as I backed up and leaned against the wall.

"You are remarkably strong-willed, Commander. What you have been through, what you have seen, would have destroyed a lesser mind," she praised.

"Uhh, hello? Awesome. Right here," I replied with a grin. At least until Dawn whacked me upside the head.

"None of that now," she said sternly.

"Yes Moooom!" I replied in an over exaggerated tone.

"Uhh, are they always like this?" Liara asked to no-one in particular as Dawn and I argued with each other.

"Every now and then," Tali replied.

"So come on! Get to the point. What'd you see?" Ashley asked impatiently.

"The beacon on Eden Prime must have been badly damaged. Large parts of the vision are missing. The data transferred into the Commander's mind is incomplete," Liara reported.

"That's what I said," I stated as I finished up my small squabble with my friend. "So nothing new?"

Liara shook her head. "Everything I saw, you already know. You were right about the Reapers. The Protheans were destroyed by a race of sentient machines. I think it is obvious there is a connection between the Reapers, the Protheans, and the Conduit. But I did not see anything that would help us find it."

"Damn," Garrus cursed quietly, but was still clearly heard by all of us.

"What's next?" Wrex spoke up.

"Saren knew the Commander was touched by the beacon on Eden Prime. He probably came after be because he feared I could help the Commander understand it," Liara answered the hulking krogan. She then turned back to me. "I was able to interpret the data relayed through your vision. What was there, at least. Find the missing protion, and I am confident I can put all the pieces together."

"Well, I guess it's official. You're on the team now. Good to have you here," I welcomed.

"Thank you, Commander. I am very gratef-" here she swayed to the side and closed her eyes. "Whoa… I am afraid I am feeling a bit light-headed."

"When was the last time you ate? Or slept? Dr. Chakwas should take a look at you," Kaiden suggested.

"It is probably just mental exhaustion, coupled with the shock of discovering the Protheans' true fate. I need some time to process all this," she replied as her eyes started to droop. "Still, it could not hurt to be examined by a medical professional. It will give me the chance to think things over. Are we finished here Commander?"

"Yep. Get some rest Liara. We'll chat later," I nodded. "Now excuse me guys, I need to report to the council. Dawn, can you show Liara to the Doc's?" I asked.

"Sure thing Josh," she nodded before directing Liara out of the room with the others following.

"Mission reports are filed, Commander. You want me to patch you through to the Council now?" Joker asked as the last person, Tali, left the room.

"Sure thing Joker," I replied as I turned around to face the projector.

"Setting up the link now, Commander," he replied.

After a few seconds, Sparatus, Tevos and Valern appeared in front of me.

"Councillors," I greeted.

"We've received your report, Commander. I understand Dr. T'Soni is on the Normandy?" Tevos asked.

"I assume you're taking the necessary security precautions?" Sparatus asked.

"She was found stuck in a Prothean isolation shield after running from the Geth inside the ruin. She had no idea someone would rescue her. I highly doubt she's with Benezia or Saren," I replied.

"Hmm, perhaps so," he agreed.

"Don't worry. I'll keep my eye on her for anything suspicious," I assured, even though I knew that Liara was on our side.

"At least the mission was a success," Valern said.

"If you call sinking the whole ruin into lava a success. Sorry about that," I apologised.

"Not to worry, Commander. The mission must always take priority," Tevos replied.

"Has there been any more evidence concerning the Reapers existence?" Sparatus asked.

"No, but Liara did mind meld with me and saw the incomplete vision I got from the beacon. As soon as she saw this she became a believer and she had no idea what the Reapers were beforehand. However she's uncovered the fact that the Protheans aren't the only galactic civilization to come to an abrupt end. While she doesn't have concrete proof, this points to the fact that the Reapers are much older than 50,000 years and the Protheans weren't the first civilization the Reapers have committed genocide on. We could be looking at a cycle that is millions of years old," I reported.

There was silence as the Councillors mulled this new piece of information over.

"This is grave news indeed. If proven correct, then these Reapers are now even more of a danger," Sparatus replied.

"I'll continue to find evidence to support this new theory and the Reapers as I carry out my missions," I assured.

"Good luck, Commander. Remember, we're all counting on you," Tevos replied before the link was cut.


End file.
